AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

MAINE vs. TOWSON

Time, site: Thursday, 3:30 p.m.; Frawley Stadium, Wilmington, Del.

Records: No. 3 Towson 35-21 (17-11 America East); No. 2 Maine 36-13 (20-8)

Series, last meeting: Towson leads 14-11; Maine won 7-5, 3-2 on 4/22/01

Top hitters – Towson: CF Greg Davies (.382, 13 HR, 66 RBI), DH Jimmy Kittelberger (.356, 8 HR, 37 RBI), 1B Mike Costello (.339, 8 HR, 40 RBI), C Casey Stidham (.338, 10 HR, 36 RBI), 3B Scott Bacon (.328, 6 HR, 42 RBI); Maine: 2B Quin Peel (.385, 3 HR, 21 RBI), 1B/C Pat Tobin (.342, 2 HR, 23 RBI), C/3B Joe Drapeau (.333, 12 HR, 51 RBI), CF Mike Livulpi (.327, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 12 SB), DH Alain Picard (.339, 8 HR, 37 RBI), 3B Matt Reynolds (.333, 1 HR, 17 RBI)

Pitching Matchup

Towson Tigers Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Bryan Simmering 3.34 7-3 81 LH Rusty Tucker 2.14 7-1 64

Outlook: The Bears return to the postseason after a one-year absence with a team many believe is capable of winning the title. UMaine sends Tucker against Simmering, one of the hottest pitchers in the league. The Bears took three of four regular-season meetings from the Tigers in Orono a month ago, beating Simmering 4-1, but their pitching faltered against Northeastern last week. Towson leads the league in homers (63), but doesn’t steal many bases. The Tigers are the top fielding team in the conference at .961 and have turned 51 double plays.