MAINE vs. MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY

Time, site: Friday (2), 1 p.m.; Saturday, noon; Baltimore, Md.

Records: Maine 29-19 (11-7 America East); UMBC (14-35, 6-12)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 1-0; Maine 9-5 in 2002

Top hitters – Maine: 3B Greg Creek (.374, 5 HR, 37 RBI), 1B Joel Barrett (.371, 31 RBI), RF Joe Hough (.351, 6 HR, 38 RBI), LF Ryan Quintal (.302, 6 HR, 42 RBI), CF Simon Williams (.288, 1 HR, 27 RBI, 24 SB); UMBC: DH-P Zach Clark (.320, 3 HR, 36 RBI), 1B Kyle Wildasin (.320, 7 HR, 32 RBI), C Jon Gossard (.302, 1 HR, 23 RBI), SS Dan Carpenter (.298, 2 HR, 26 RBI), 2B Kevin Brooks (.270, 17 RBI)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Maine Black Bears UMBC Retrievers

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Mike MacDonald 3.55 4-3 77 RH Zach Clark 5.37 3-4 39

RH Troy Martin 3.62 4-1 45 RH Eric Butkiewicz 5.45 2-9 53

RH Steve Richard 2.93 4-2 52 RH Jon Pavlis 6.72 2-9 46

Outlook: The Bears look to end the season strong against the Retrievers. UMaine, seeking 30 wins for the fourth straight season, has won three straight and 10 of 13. The Bears can finish as high as the No. 2 seed for the league tourney. UMBC has lost six of 10 and is not in postseason contention, but took two of three from Stony Brook last weekend. The Bears won’t tax their starters too much in this series and hope to keep the bats hot going into the playoffs.