UMaine capsules

SOFTBALL

MAINE vs. HARTFORD

Time, site: Saturday (2), 1 p.m.; Sunday (2), noon; Kessock Field, Orono

Records: Hartford 6-19 (5-10 America East); Maine 21-20 (9-9)

Last meeting: Hartford 1-0 on 5/902

Top hitters – Binghamton: 3B Liz Borawski (.425, 31 hits, 13 RBI, 14 SB), OF Samantha Morrison (.296, 24 hits, 10 RBI, 9 SB), 2B Mallory Rapoza (.257, 18 hits, 8 RBI), CF-C Ryan Williams (.236, 20 hits, 4 RBI); Maine: CF Jess Brady (.348, 46 hits, 14 RBI, 17 SB), SS Brittany Cheney (.339, 40 hits, 17 RBI), DH-1B Amy Kuhl (.265, 26 hits, 9 RBI), DH Molly McKinney (.231, 29 hits, 12 RBI)

Pitching Matchups

Hartford Hawks Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Jamie Graves .250 4-8 42 RH Jenna Merchant 1.71 10-9 113

RH Caitlin Eichler 3.64 2-11 44 RH Sarah Bennis 2.63 8-9 56

Outlook: The Black Bears enter their final weekend of regular-season play in a tight race for the final two spots in the America East tournament. Maine will have a good opportunity to lock up a playoff spot against Hartford, which has struggled in several key areas this year. The Hawks do have Borowski, whose batting average and slugging percentage (.699) lead the conference. Maine’s Lauren Dulkis has been heating up, including a 2-for-4 effort with five RBIs in a game against Vermont Sunday. Merchant’s 108 strikeouts lead America East.

BASEBALL

MAINE vs. ALBANY

Time, site: Saturday (2), Sunday (2), noon; Albany, N.Y.

Records: Maine 28-12 (9-3 America East); Albany 15-23 (8-8)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 3-0; Maine 3-2, 14-6 on 4/28/02

Top hitters – Maine: DH Alain Picard (.357, 5 HR, 45 RBI), 1B Greg Creek (.350, 1 HR, 12 RBI), C Aaron Izaryk (.347, 2 HR, 31 RBI), 2B Brett Ouellette (.336, 8 HR, 35 RBI), 3B Joe Drapeau (.328, 9 HR, 29 RBI); Albany: Jason Martin (.375, HR, 19 RBI), LF Brendan Chiavaro (.364, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 12 SB), 3B Dan Schoonmaker (.352, 7 HR, 29 RBI), 2B Kirt Kimniewicz (.307, 6 HR, 26 RBI), 1B Derek Degrazio (.305, 5 HR, 29 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Maine Black Bears Albany Great Danes

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Mike MacDonald 3.88 4-4 58 RH Steve Emmerthal 3.69 4-4 60

RH Mike Collar 3.13 6-2 70 RH Jeff Mazzola 5.44 2-4 34

RH Greg Norton 3.00 5-1 44 RH Adam Kroft 5.61 3-2 36

RH Ryan Harris 4.30 2-1 22 RH Kyle Thomas 6.75 3-4 31

Outlook: The Bears are on the road to face a scrappy Albany club. UMaine features outstanding pitching and defense, and the bats seem to be heating up. The Danes are third in AE with a .293 average and 30 HRs. Emmerthal is the stopper on an average staff. UMaine is first in defense (.974 fielding pct.), and second in team ERA (3.99) and batting (.300). MacDonald has lost two straight starts, while Harris is making his conference debut after experiencing some arm trouble.