Maine capsules

Baseball

MAINE vs. HARTFORD

Time, site: Saturday (2), 3 p.m., Sunday (2), noon; E. Hartford, Conn.

Records: Maine 16-6 (0-0 America East); Hartford 1-15 (0-0)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 45-12; Maine 12-2 on 3/9/03

Top hitters – Maine: 2B Brett Ouellette (.359, 5 HR, 24 RBI), 1B Jesse Carlton (.345, 3 HR, 16 RBI), DH Alain Picard (.345, 2 HR, 26 RBI), RF Ryan Quintal (.340, 1 HR, 9 RBI), C Aaron Izaryk (.328, 16 RBI); Hartford: LF Josh Topp (.367, 6 RBI), 1B Ryan Cuskovitch (.315, 7 RBI), DH Brian Eck (.302, 2 HR, 9 RBI), SS Matt Denorfia (.283, 6 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Maine Black Bears Hartford Hawks

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Mike MacDonald 3.21 3-2 39 LH Brian Mascaro 6.55 1-3 22

RH Mike Collar 3.93 3-2 41 RH Kyle Valentine 10.32 0-0 10

RH Greg Norton 3.30 3-0 29 RH Jeff Swedberg 12.42 0-3 9

LH Sam Warner 8.53 2-0 12 RH Tony Cekovsky 13.02 0-4 10

Outlook: The Bears open their America East schedule with four more road games. UMaine hopes to get into a good groove with a sweep against the struggling Hawks, whom they beat three times to open the season. UMaine has won seven straight and is the league’s best defensive team (15 errors, .980 fielding pct.) and ranks second in batting (.299) and pitching (3.99 ERA). Hartford, loser of nine straight, is hitting only .243, trails AE with a 9.41 ERA and has committed 43 errors.

Softball

MAINE vs. STONY BROOK

Time, site: Saturday (2), Sunday, noon; Kessock Field, Orono

Records: Maine 11-13 (0-2 America East); Stony Brook 14-18 (4-2)

Series, last meeting: split on 4/29/02; Maine 1-0, Stony Brook 3-1

Top hitters – Maine: CF Jess Brady (.400, 11 RBI, 16 SB), SS Brittany Cheney (.373, 9 RBI, 6 SB), C Lindsay Tibbetts (.290, 4 RBI), 2B Sara Asadoorian (.260), DP Molly McKinney (.242, 11 RBI); Stony Brook: CF Stephanie DiBiase (.413, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 11 SB), 1B Kristen Brust (.360, 7 HR,19 RBI), 3B Hayley Durham (.337, 14 RBI), RF Jane Stein (.256, 5 HR, 18 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Stony Brook Seawolves Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Angela Andrews 3.33 8-11 70 RH Jenna Merchant 2.30 5-7 80

RH Jessica Paparella 4.20 6-7 38 RH Sarah Bennis 2.76 5-5 31

Outlook: The Bears look to bounce back after Thursday’s twinbill loss to Boston U. Maine needs Merchant and Bennis to have strong outings as the Seawolves hold the top three America East spots in home runs and the top four in total bases. Maine wants to get their offense rolling against Stony Brook pitchers, who have given up a league-high 237 hits and 111 runs. DiBiase leads league in batting average, hits (45) and total bases (65). The Seawolves claimed league honors last week for DiBiase (Player of the Week) and Durham (Rookie of the Week).