ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine baseball team released its 2018 schedule on Monday, unveiling a 53-game slate that features seven games against two 2017 NCAA Tournament teams.
“We are all very eager to get going this year,” said head coach Nick Derba. “We have a very good mix of talent and grit that should allow this team to be contenders in every game we play.”
UMaine kicks off the season Feb. 16-18 with a four-game series at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders posted a 45-17 record last season and earned a trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the Big 12 title. After a four-game neutral-site set against Ohio University the following weekend, the Black Bears visit perennial powerhouse University of Miami for a four-game series March 2-4. The Hurricanes went 31-27 last year but missed out on a 45th-straight NCAA tournament bid after falling to North Carolina in the ACC tournament semifinals.
The Black Bears will then head to Texas, playing four games at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley March 9-11 before playing two midweek games at the University of the Incarnate Word the following Tuesday and Wednesday. UMaine will wrap up the road trip with four games at New Mexico State University, March 16-18.
America East play will begin for the Black Bears with a three-game series at Hartford March 24-25. UMaine will continue with conference play when the team finally hits Mahaney Diamond with a three-game series against UAlbany March 31-April 1 and then follow it up with another conference three-game set against Stony Brook the following weekend. All conference series feature a double-header the first day and a single game the following.
The Black Bears then hit the road again, traveling to West Long Branch, N.J. for three games. On April 13, the team will play the Monmouth University Hawks and Sacred Heart Pioneers back-to-back and then take on Monmouth again the next day, with all three games being played on the Hawks’ homefield. Another three-game conference series at UMass Lowell April 21-22 is sandwiched between single game tilts with in-state schools in St Joseph’s College of Maine at 4 p.m. on April 18 and Bowdoin at 7 p.m. on April 25.
The Black Bears shift back to conference play when they travel to 2017 America East Champion UMBC April 28-29 but then head to UMass Amherst for a single game on May 2. UMaine will then host Binghamton May 5-6 and travel to UAlbany for a rematch May 12-13 before wrapping up non-conference play with a single game tilt at Boston College May 15. The Black Bears will then take on Hartford at Mahaney Diamond, May 18-19, in the final regular season action.
It’s then on to postseason play, with the America East Championships will then be held May 23-27 in Orono.
The Black Bears will be entering their second season under the direction of Derba, who was named head coach in June after serving as the interim head coach during the 2017 season and guiding the team to its highest win total in four years. UMaine posted a 25-29 record last year and went 8-12 in America East play. In America East Championship play, the Black Bears earned four straight wins for a berth in the title game.
