With three weekends left in the America East season, the University of Maine baseball team is still in the thick of the postseason hunt.

However, the fifth-place Black Bears will need better overall pitching if they’re going to contend for a third consecutive league title this spring.

Coach Steve Trimper said UMaine (14-23, 5-7 AE) is going to need more quality contributions from the staff, which has been thinned by injuries and attrition, to help the Bears get back on track.

The Bears head into this week’s action with a 6.60 team earned run average, the second highest in America East. And opponents are batting .329 against UMaine.

Those numbers are the highest for a UMaine pitching staff since 2000, when the Bears finished the season with a 6.65 ERA and opponents batted .310. That was the last time UMaine failed to qualify for the conference tournament.

“With Norty [Greg Norton] and [Brad] Hertzler, we can get complete games,” Trimper said, “and we were forced to move [former closer] A.J. [Balsinde] to the starting role.”

While those three pitchers have been steady, combining for a 7-11 record and a 4.95 ERA, the Bears have struggled to find consistency among their other starters and primary relievers.

In fact, the rest of the staff is a combined 7-13 with an 8.12 ERA.

Mike Powers has been unable to regain his form of 2006 and has been used primarily in relief.

Likewise, veterans Jose Mendoza and Mitch Clegg haven’t been able to get into a good groove yet.

“In order for us to do something, we’ve got to get some mileage out of these guys,” Trimper said.

Kevin McAvoy might have worked his way into the mix earlier, but has been slowed by a bruised tailbone. Even outfielder Bobby Brown pitched twice last week, his first mound appearances with the Bears.

UMaine also has been hampered by injuries to starter Nolan Boike (groin) and transfer Joel Thorney (elbow), along with the departure from the team of Pat Moran.

“We’re hanging in there. They guys are playing tough,” Trimper said. “We just have to try to win these next three series and get in that tournament.”

UMaine men getting guarded

With the University of Maine men’s basketball team losing its starting point guard and shooting guard to graduation, head coach Ted Woodward has been on a mission to reload the Black Bears’ backcourt.

UMaine’s third-year coach and former eight-year assistant thinks he has done that by signing Robby Hanzlik to a National Letter of Intent.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard from Greenwood Village, Colo., was the leading scorer for the New Hampton School prep team and can play both point and shooting guard. Hanzlik averaged 15 points, three assists and three rebounds per game. His Huskies went 17-12 in New England Prep School Athletic Council play last season.

“Any time you can get the leading scorer on a good prep school team, you’re happy to get him,” said Woodward. “I think it’s a really good fit. He played a lot of good competition and has tremendous maturity with a lot of room for continued growth with a tremendous upside.

“Robby’s tough, he can shoot, and he has a lot of leadership qualities I like. He can score off the dribble.”

The 19-year-old Hanzlik shot more than 40 percent from 3-point range for New Hampton.

If his name rings a bell, it may be because his father Bill starred on the basketball court for the University of Notre Dame and was an NBA first- round draft pick in 1980. The guard-forward played 10 NBA seasons with the Seattle Supersonics (two) and Denver Nuggets (eight).

Hanzlik’s signing leaves Woodward with one scholarship. All NLI signings are contingent upon admission to the University of Maine and compliance with all NCAA rules including registration with the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Ballantyne signs with Ravens

Kendrick Ballantyne of Gorham has signed a one-year free-agent contract with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.

Ballantyne, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound tight end, spent his first two years at the University of Maine, but was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. He wound up at Atlantic 10 rival Northeastern University in Boston.

Ballantyne caught 39 passes for 655 yards and seven touchdowns last season for the Huskies. He also served as a co-captain for coach Rocky Hager.

Ballantyne was an All-Atlantic 10 second-team pick and an All-New England selection. He caught two TD passes in a 36-35 upset of No. 6 New Hampshire last season.

He played quarterback and strong safety at Gorham High School, where he was also a basketball standout.

UMaine-USM game in jeopardy

Wednesday’s scheduled nonleague game between UMaine and the University of Southern Maine was up in the air as of Monday evening.

Historic Goodall Park in Sanford, the scheduled site, apparently has been inundated by rain and will not be playable. Thus, Trimper said the schools are trying to find an alternate site where they can play an evening game.

The contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. start so the student-athletes won’t have to miss class time Wednesday. A decision should be forthcoming today.