MAINE vs. MONMOUTH

Time, site: Saturday (2), noon; Sunday, noon; Monmouth, N.J.

Records: Maine 6-6, Monmouth 3-7

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 6-1; Maine 7-1 in 2000

Top hitters – Maine: 3B Curt Smith (.409, 4 RBI, 3 SB), 1B Joel Barrett (.396, 1 HR, 11 RBI), LF Ryan Quintal (.358, 1 HR, 8 RBI), C Aaron Izaryk (.348, 7 RBI), SS Mike Ferriggi (.293, 1 HR, 7 RBI); Monmouth: Nick Massari (.371, 2 HR, 8 RBI), Cip Apicelli (.345, 3 RBI), Mike Hussa (.310, 2 RBI), Fran Rotella (.278, 1 HR, 7 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Maine Black Bears Monmouth Hawks

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Greg Norton 1.56 2-1 11 RH Frank Pilitowski 4.82 1-0 4

RH Greg Creek 0.00 1-0 16 RH Brad Brach 6.75 1-2 9

RH Steve Richard 2.95 1-0 13 LH Joe Cummings 7.36 0-2 3

Outlook: The Black Bears begin the Northeast portion of their schedule with a weekend series against the Hawks of the Northeast Conference. UMaine looks to establish its weekend rotation with this trio, which performed well down south. Creek is unable to bat because of a wrist injury, while SS Steve Gambale is sidelined with finger injuries. The Bears, batting .310 as a team, have won two straight and three of their last four. Monmouth, which has been to Florida and California, has won two of three. The Hawks are hitting only .268 and have a 5.29 team ERA.