College baseball

MAINE vs. BINGHAMTON

Time, site: Friday, 5 p.m.; Saturday (2), 3 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.; Mahaney Diamond, Orono

Records: Maine 20-27 (11-9 America East), Binghamton 24-16 (15-4)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 12-4, Binghamton 5-0 on 4/30/06

Top hitters – Maine: 1B Joel Barrett (.375, 6 HR, 37 RBI), 3B Curt Smith (.339, 6 HR, 41 RBI), C Myckie Lugbauer (.318, 5 HR, 23 RBI), LF Matt McGraw (.307, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 18 SB), CF Billy Cather (.298, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 15 SB); Binghamton: 1B Brendon Hitchcock (.387, 4 HR, 35 RBI), SS Justin Smucker (.338, 2 HR, 19 RBI), 2B Matt Simek (.336, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 10 SB), CF Henry Dunn (.290, 1 HR, 18 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Binghamton Bearcats Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Zach Groh 3.21 6-1 77 LH Nolan Boike 6.55 1-1 25

LH Scott Diamond 3.55 4-3 30 LH Brad Hertzler 3.48 4-4 63

LH Jeff Dennis 2.30 4-1 45 RH Greg Norton 4.65 6-3 38

RH Mike Van Gorder 2.56 5-3 31 RH Alejandro Balsinde 3.92 3-4 30

Outlook: The third-place Black Bears can clinch a playoff spot with a win against the league-leading Bearcats, but may have to dodge some raindrops. UMaine hopes the return of Boike (groin pull) will deepen the pitching staff, while Binghamton features the league’s most well-rounded staff with a 2.52 ERA in league games. UMaine’s Smith has a 12-game hitting streak and Cather has hit safely in 10 consecutive games.