BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Maine baseball team had hoped to erase the disappointment of two Thursday losses to Vermont by winning a couple of games Friday.

Instead, with their postseason hopes in doubt, the Black Bears were forced to sit in their hotel rooms as heavy rain delayed their quest to qualify for next week’s America East tournament.

UMaine’s playoff future is uncertain, but coach Steve Trimper’s Bears can significantly boost their chances in today’s noon doubleheader.

The Bears are also coping with the loss of senior Ryan Quintal, who has been suspended from the team for a violation of the UMaine student-athlete code of conduct. UMaine’s cleanup hitter was batting .322 with a team-leading eight home runs and 56 runs batted in.

Quintal, 21, of Manchester, N.H. was arrested early Tuesday morning in Orono and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants.

A witness reported seeing a car strike a fire hydrant on Park Street shortly before 1 a.m. and then head down Colburn Drive. Orono police officers investigating the accident found a 1995 Oldsmobile Supreme parked by the Timberview apartments, with both driver’s side tires flat and damage to the rear bumper. Yellow paint on the bumper matched the paint of the fire hydrant, according to police.

Quintal lived in the apartment complex but wasn’t there. He returned from visiting a friend while police were talking to his roommate, Orono police Officer Chris Foxworthy reported.

Quintal initially denied being involved in the accident, but under questioning commented, “it was just a fire hydrant, it was no big deal,” according to the police. Quintal subsequently admitted to drinking earlier that night and that he had struck the fire hydrant. He told Foxworthy that he hadn’t had anything to drink after the accident, according to the police report.

Foxworthy arrested Quintal following field sobriety tests. Quintal’s blood-alcohol content registered 0.12 percent or 11/2 times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He was also charged with failure to give notice of an accident by the quickest means.

“We care deeply for Quinny,” Trimper said. “I think he made a terrible mistake, but he understands that. This team has to move on.”

Quintal will be able to return to the team if it does qualify for the playoffs, according to Brent Williamson, assistant athletic director for public relations.

Going into today, UMaine occupies third place with an 11-9 conference record and a .550 winning percentage. While Vermont (16-6, .727) has wrapped up the No. 1 seed and will host the four-team, double-elimination tourney May 25-27, UMaine is among four teams vying for the other three spots.

Trimper is trying not to overburden his youthful team psychologically, especially with five freshman positional starters having played Friday.

“I said to them, ‘You can’t give up,'” Trimper said. “I think the guys were putting pressure on themselves to do too much sometimes and we’re not that type of ballclub.”

In the postseason chase, Albany is second (11-8, .579) after winning Game 1 of its series Friday at fifth-place Binghamton (10-9, .526). They must complete two more games to reach the league minimum of 21 to qualify for postseason play.

Lurking in fourth place is Stony Brook (9-8, .529), which beat Maryland Baltimore County in Friday’s series opener. If the Seawolves are in contention come Sunday, they will be forced to make up one game early next week to be playoff-eligible.

Under league rules, Stony Brook would revert to its first postponed league contest of the season, which happens to be a home game against fellow playoff contender Binghamton. That could work in the Bears’ favor.

Because of rainouts, all teams won’t play the same number of games. Thus, UMaine must finish with a better winning percentage than Binghamton, Albany, or Stony Brook to make the tournament.

If the Bears beat Vermont twice today, they’ll wind up 13-9 (.591) in AE play and greatly enhance their prospects. In that scenario, Binghamton would need win the next three against Albany and hope to earn the tiebreaker against the Bears.

Two UMaine wins would seal the deal against Albany if the Great Danes win only one of the last three at Binghamton. A 2-0 finish by the Bears also would force Stony Brook to win its last four games, including an “if necessary” game against Binghamton, to edge out UMaine.

Winning only once today at UVM would complicate things. If that happens, the Bears would qualify if one team in the Albany-Binghamton series wins three of four, or if those teams split and Stony Brook fails to win at least two of its last four games, including a makeup game against Binghamton.

UMaine could still reach the playoffs even if it loses twice against Vermont. That would require Binghamton or Albany to win three of four in that series or Stony Brook would have to go 1-3 in its last four games.

Bears senior Joe Hough said the rivalry with Vermont and the motivation of qualifying for postseason should make for a hard-fought end to the series.

“It’s definitely going to be a dogfight,” said the senior captain. “Coach [Trimper] said, ‘They’re trying to take the game away from you, so you’ve got to kick and scream to get it back.’ We’re just going to go out there and play hard, hope for the best.”

BDN reporter Doug Kesseli also contributed to this report.