America East Baseball News & Notes: Time for League Baseball

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Last weekend we got a taste of league play when UMBC took two of three from the UMass Lowell River Hawks. This weekend, all teams except the River Hawks will play conference baseball in America East. We have reached the point in spring where league play becomes more important. So let’s take a look at what is ahead.

The Retrievers and River Hawks played three one-run games last weekend at UMBC and pitching would be the key to the Retrievers winning the series. America East Pitcher of the Week Nick Remy would come out of the bullpen in games 1 & 2 of the series and get the job done. He pitched four innings in those two appearances and got the win in both games. In both outings, Remy would be called upon to stop a potential River Hawks rally. On Friday, with runners at the corners and two outs, Remy got a key strikeout to end the rally. He pitched a perfect ninth to get the win, 7-6. On Saturday, Remy was called on again and this time it was with the bases loaded and one out in extra innings. He induced a flyout and then a strikeout to get out of the jam. From there, he would strike out the next four hitters before UMBC walked off with the 9-8 victory.

UMBC (6-9) kept it going during the mid-week as they would take both games heading into their second conference series. Wins over Coppin State on Tuesday by the 10-run rule 19-9, then on Wednesday they defeated Delaware State by a 10-9 score. They head into the weekend winners of four of their last five games.

Another team playing well is the Binghamton Bearcats (9-9). They took two of three from Holy Cross at home last weekend. They would run-rule the Crusaders on Friday by a 16-5 score. America East Player of the Week Devan Bade had a big night going 4-for-4 with a grand slam HR to lead the way. After losing Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday, the Bearcats came back to take Game 2, 6-0. Three pitchers combined on a two-hitter as Colin Rheim gave up two hits in seven innings and struck out five. Out of the pen, Bradt Lesiak and Mitchell Jackson went a scoreless inning each. On Tuesday, Binghamton made it three wins in their last four games with an 11-6 win over Siena College. An 8-run 6th inning did the trick and LF Logan Haskell homered twice in the inning. His first was a solo blast and later he hit a 3-run HR. Both bombs went to left field.

Binghamton is not just hitting the baseball, they are also fielding the ball well too. They rank seventh in the country in fielding percentage at .985, have made 10 errors in their 18 games played, and have also turned eight double plays.

One team that is still struggling is the Maine Black Bears (4-15). They have lost seven in a row and were swept last weekend on the road at St. John’s. In mid-week games, the Black Bears were beaten by Fordham University 9-8, and on Wednesday they were beaten by Army by the run-rule 14-4. Maine’s problems can be looked at this way. They are next to last in batting at .234, 5th in team ERA at 6.96, and next to last in fielding with a .959% (29 errors in 19 games).

The weekend schedule looks like this. UMBC at NJIT, UAlbany at Bryant, Maine at Binghamton. UMass Lowell will host LeMoyne over the weekend.

Back to Bade for a moment. In the Bearcats win over St. Bonaventure, he went 4-for-5 in that 7-6 win over the Bonnies. For the week he batted .667 with a slugging percentage of .800. It is his second career weekly award.

The America East Rookie of the Week is Anthony Mascuilli of UMBC. In the series win over the River Hawks, he batted .600 and slugged .800 with an on-base percentage of .714. In game two of the series, Mascuilli went 4-for-4 with four RBI, and the game-winning double in the 9-8 victory. He had two multi-hit games in the series.