College baseball

MAINE VS. BINGHAMTON

Time, site: Friday, 3 p.m., Saturday (2), noon; Sunday, noon; Varsity Field, Vestal, N.Y.

Records: Maine 24-11-1 (5-1 America East), Binghamton 19-14-1 (6-2)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 10-2, Maine 6-5 on 5/21/05

Top hitters: Maine – 3B Kevin McAvoy (.407, 6 HR, 43 RBI), SS Curt Smith (.400, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 12 SB), 1B Joel Barrett (.358, 4 HR, 40 RBI), DH Matt McGraw (.355, 1 HR, 26 RBI, 11 SB), CF Joe Hough (.338, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 15 SB); Binghamton – SS Justin Smucker (.363, 2 HR, 19 RBI), 1B Brendon Hitchcock (.352, 5 HR, 33 RBI), 2B Matt Simek (.319, 2 HR, 21 RBI), RF Jeff Monaco (.310, 2 HR, 28 RBI, 8 SB)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Maine Black Bears Binghamton Bearcats

RH Scott Robinson 5.82 6-2 50 LH Scott Diamond 6.11 4-4 25

RH Mike Powers 4.43 1-1 6 RH Zach Groh 0.44 4-0 43

RH Josh Zyskowski 3.62 2-0 34 RH Jarrod Rampey 4.28 2-3 29

LH Nolan Boike 4.59 3-1 14 RH Mike Van Gorder 3.51 3-1 24

Outlook: The Bears look to retain first place with a key series against the Bearcats. Maine leads America East in batting (.330) and runs scored (8.6 per game). The Bears also apply pressure with aggressive baserunning (65 steals). Binghamton counters with a stingy pitching staff (4.65 team ERA). The Maine infield must limit its fielding miscues to support its young and developing pitching staff. The Bears also need better, longer efforts from their starting pitchers if they hope to challenge for the title.