Baseball

MAINE vs. BINGHAMTON

Time, site: Friday (2), 2 p.m.; Sat., noon; Mahaney Diamond, Orono

Records: Binghamton 23-21-1 (12-5 America East); Maine 28-16 (11-7)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 7-2, Maine 8-4 on 4/25/04

Top hitters – Binghamton: 1B Brendon Hitchcock (.412, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 11 SB), 3B Mathieu Bergeron (.337, 15 HR, 54 RBI), 2B Matt Simek (.327, 3 HR, 25 RBI, 10 SB); Maine: LF Ryan Quintal (.343, 5 HR, 35 RBI), 1B Joel Barrett (.341, 7 HR, 35 RBI), 3B Curt Smith (.339, 2 HR, 27 RBI, 10 SB), DH Greg Creek (.336, 9 HR, 26 RBI), C Aaron Izaryk (.331, 25 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Binghamton Bearcats Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Jarrod Rampey 3.66 5-4 45 RH Steve Richard 2.18 6-1 75

LH Scott Diamond 4.20 4-4 52 RH Troy Martin 4.22 6-2 32

RH Mike Van Gorder 4.25 4-1 30 RH Greg Norton 3.42 8-3 58

Outlook: The Bears take on the league-leading Bearcats needing one victory to clinch an AE tournament berth for the fifth straight year. UMaine has lost three of four for the first time since March. Binghamton, coming off a Tuesday loss to Siena, is 12-2 in its last 14 league contests. Izaryk has gone 20-for-40 (.500) with 7 doubles and 13 RBIs in his last 12 games. Diamond, a freshman, has pitched back-to-back shutouts. Bergeron leads the league in homers and RBIs.