College baseball

MAINE vs. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT

Time, site: Wednesday (2), 1 p.m.; Mahaney Diamond, Orono

Records: Maine 31-12; Central Connecticut 25-14-2

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 14-6; CC 5-4, UM 21-9 on 4/24/02

Top hitters – CentConn: C Tim D’Aquila (.424, 2 HR, 35 RBI), CF Brad Muldoon (.365, 21 RBI, 16 SB), 3B Nick Macellaro (.358, 20 RBI), 2B Stegbauer (.352, 3 HR, 32 RBI), 1B Phil Rothkugel (.345, 5 HR, 32 RBI); Maine: DH Alain Picard (.357, 5 HR, 46 RBI, 8 SB), C Aaron Izaryk (.346, 2 HR, 32 RBI), 2B Brett Ouellette (.336, 8 HR, 39 RBI), 1B Greg Creek (.333, 1 HR, 12 RBI), 3B Joe Drapeau (.331, 9 HR, 30 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Central Conn. Blue Devils Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Don Crossman 4.56 2-1 18 RH Troy Martin 4.50 1-1 10

RH Scott Vitelli 5.91 2-3 22 LH Sam Warner 5.81 3-0 20

Outlook: UMaine has won 30-plus for the third straight season, while CentConn has won at least 25 three years in a row. The Bears lead America East, while the Devils are atop the Northeast Conference. UMaine is likely to give its younger pitchers the bulk of the work in these non-league contests. CentConn boasts a healthy .332 team batting average and its pitchers have allowed only nine home runs all season while walking three per game. Coaches Paul Kostacopoulos and Charlie Hickey both were head coaches at Providence and guided their respective teams to the NCAA Tournament last year.