WILMINGTON, Del. – There are days when even the best pitcher doesn’t have his good stuff.

Thursday afternoon, it was Rusty Tucker’s turn – in the University of Maine’s first-round game against Towson at the America East Championship.

Towson rocked the America East Pitcher of the Year for 11 hits and nine earned runs in 3? innings on its way to a tournament- and school-record 28 hits and an easy 20-4 victory over the Black Bears at Frawley Stadium.

Second-seeded Maine (36-14) plays the loser of Thursday’s 7 p.m. game between No. 1 Delaware and No. 4 Northeastern in Friday’s noon elimination game. Third seed Towson (36-21) takes on the winner in the 3:30 p.m. winners’ bracket contest.

If the Bears win, they will play at 7 p.m.

UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos had trouble believing the lopsidedness of the loss.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game where there were 28 hits against us,” he said. “They were all over the ball. One through nine, they were right on fire.”

Catcher Joe Drapeau of Biddeford said Tucker wasn’t sharp during his pregame warmups. He tried to put the defeat in perspective.

“To me this is just one of those days that it didn’t go your way, so [Friday] you’re going to come out here and play as hard as you can because now if you lose, you’re going home for the summer,” said Drapeau, who was lifted in the fifth inning to rest his badly sprained left ankle.

“We’re like a wounded animal,” Drapeau said. “We’re going to come out here fighting, whoever we play; hopefully, we can get a win.”

Tucker, who four-hit the Tigers in a 4-1 victory a month ago in Orono, didn’t fool anybody this time. Towson jumped on the lefthander for five hits and four runs in the top of the first inning, setting the tone for the blowout.

“It was just another one of those days where you don’t have your good stuff, so I tried to battle and the ball didn’t bounce our way today,” Tucker said. “That’s what happens when you throw balls up [high in the strike zone] and you don’t have your good stuff, you get hit like that.”

Tucker, who surrendered eight earned runs and eight hits in five innings last week against Northeastern, slipped to 7-2. His earned run average, which ranked third in the country, went from 2.14 to 3.26. Tucker has allowed 17 earned runs in his last 8? innings.

Towson’s Gregg Davies, the America East Player of the Year, tied a conference tournament record with five hits, including a home run, two doubles, and two singles good for four RBIs. He said the Tigers sensed Tucker wasn’t on top of his game.

“We could tell he was off and we knew he was coming off a bad outing, so we just got good balls to hit and we set the tone early with the home run and everyone in the lineup hit the ball,” Davies said. “We just took advantage of the mistakes he made.”

Jimmy Kittelberger doubled and singled three times for Towson, which had every starter register at least two hits and a run scored. Joey Marcozzi (3 RBIs) and Scott Bacon also singled four times for the winners.

Towson registered 17 hits and 11 runs in 5? innings off UMaine relievers Adam Labelle, Eric Johnson, and Ryan Harris.

Towson ace Bryan Simmering kept the Bears in check, limiting them to eight hits and four runs in eight innings.

Leadoff man Mike Livulpi stroked three singles for the Bears, who have lost seven of their last eight postseason games and are 2-11 since 1993. Alain Picard doubled twice (1 RBI). Simon Williams of Portland provided a two-run single.

Ryan Avila ignited the first-inning rally, lining a leadoff home run into the bullpen in left. Kittelberger reached on an infield chopper, then took third on Bacon’s sinking line single to right. Casey Stidham roped a two-run double to center and Marcozzi delivered a two-out, run-scoring single to left.

UMaine senior first baseman Jon Hambelton, who was serving the second game of a three-game suspension Thursday for his role in a fight during last Saturday night’s second game against Northeastern, watched from the stands.

Drapeau paid tribute to Hambelton before the first pitch when he used his spikes to scratch “28,” Hambelton’s jersey number, in the dirt behind home plate.

“It’s just a matter of winning this next game and then getting Hambelton back in the lineup and doing what we can to win,” Drapeau said.

Tigers 20, Black Bears 4

Towson (36-21) Maine (38-14)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Avila, rf-cf 7 2 2 2 Livulpi, cf 4 0 0

Kittelberger, dh 7 4 4 2 c-Carlton 1 0

Davies, cf-1b 7 3 5 4 Reynolds, 3b 4 0

Bacon, 3b 6 2 4 2 Drapeau, c 2 0 0

Stidham, c 6 2 2 2 Genest, 1b 2 1 0

Costello, 1b 5 1 2 1 Picard, dh 4 1 1

Lester, rf 1 1 1 1 Peel, 2b 4 1 0

Marcozzi, lf 5 2 4 3 Tobin, 1b-c 2 1 1

McKenna, ss 5 1 2 1 Ross, lf 4 0 0

Trela, 2b 3 2 2 2 Williams, rf 4 0 2

a-Paduano 1 0 0 0 Reichley, ss 2 0 0

Schoonhoven, 2b 0 0 0 0 b-Young 1 0 0

Totals 53 20 28 20 Totals 34 4 8 4

a-flied out for Trela in 7th, b-struck out for Reichley in 9th, c-grounded out for Livulpi in 9th

Towson 401 014 030 ? 20

Maine 010 200 010 ? 4

E?Bacon, Trela; LOB?Towson 10, Maine 6; 2B?Avila, Kittelberger, Davies, Stidham, McKenna, Trela; Picard, Peel; HR?Avila (5), Davies (14); DP?McKenna-Trela-Costello, Bacon-Schoonhoven-Costello;Reichley-Peel-Genest; SF?McKenna; Tobin

Towson IP H R ER BB SO

Simmering (W, 8-3) 8 8 4 3 2 9

Wetzel 1 0 0 0 0 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Tucker (L, 7-2) 3? 11 9 9 1 6

Labelle ? 3 3 3 0 0

Johnson 2 8 5 5 0 2

Harris 3 6 3 2 1 1

HBP?Marcozzi by Labelle; WP?Simmering, Tucker; PB?Tobin; T? 2:40