The University of Maine baseball team is counting on pitching depth to carry it through the losers’ bracket at the America East tournament.

Maine, the No. 2 seed, lost 10-1 in its opener against No. 3 Stony Brook on Wednesday at Vestal, N.Y., falling into the losers’ bracket at the double-elimination tournament.

Maine will play at 11 a.m. today against top-seeded Binghamton, which lost 9-6 to Albany in its opener.

“It’s tournament time. It’s not like we haven’t won three games in a row before,” said Coach Steve Trimper. “We feel strongly that the deeper we get in this tournament, the better. Everyone has a great No. 1 (pitcher). But if we can get through Game 2, we have some pretty good pitching. Our depth is better.”

Right-hander AJ Bazdanes is scheduled to start against Binghamton, with relief available from right-handers Matt Jebb and Justin Latta.

Bazdanes is 7-4  with a 4.45 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 64 2⁄3 innings.

Jeff Gibbs (5-4) took the loss for the Black Bears on Wednesday, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings.

Nick Tropeano (8-3) went eight innings for the Seawolves, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts.

The Seawolves pulled ahead 5-0 in the fifth inning on four singles and two walks. They added three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth and ninth innings.

“We had hitter’s counts and he made pitcher’s pitches,” said Trimper. “We went 18 at-bats and only had two times where he threw a first-pitch strike. He’d just come back and really pound the zone … We just couldn’t get that big hit.”

Trimper said his team is ready to turn things around today.

n Nine Maine players were named to various America East baseball all-conference teams.

Reliever Latta, catcher Joe Mercurio, shortstop Tony Patane and center fielder Taylor Lewis were named to the first team.

Pitchers Keith Bilodeau, Gibbs and Bazdanes were named to the second team.

And Gibbs, third baseman/DH Tyler Patzalek and second baseman Michael Fransoso were named to the all-rookie team.

n Windham QB Jackson Taylor, who will play at Maine in the fall, was one of 14 Maine high school football players named Scholar Athletes at the annual awards dinner of the State of Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

Gerry Hodge, a 1953 Maine graduate, was honored with the Contribution to Amateur Football award.

Hodge played center and linebacker for the Black Bears for three years and went on to teach and coach at Mexico High and Bangor High where he won three state titles in 18 years at the helm.

The banquet was held at Bowdoin College.

ST. JOSEPH’S

Ben Grant-Roy and Todd Keneborus were named to the NCAA Division III New England regional all-tournament team last week.

Keneborus was also named a D3baseball.com third-team All-American on Wednesday.

The eighth-seeded Monks went 3-2 in the double-elimination tournament, three times knocking off higher seeds in elimination games.
Grant-Roy, a senior first baseman from Biddeford, hit .500 (12 for 24) with six RBI. He led the tournament in hits and fielding chances (44), and tied for the most at-bats with 24.

Keneborus, a junior right fielder from Hollis, hit .526 (10 for 19) with two runs scored and four RBI. He was tied for second among all players in hits, and ranked third in batting average.

n Pitcher Pat Moran was selected to play at Fenway Park in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association 2010 College Baseball All-Star Game, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, June 6.

Moran, a transfer from the University of Maine, went 7-2 and led the Monks’ staff in innings (64) and strikeouts (65) while walking just 12 batters.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE

Attack Jess Knight became the first lacrosse player in school history named an ECAC Division III New England All-Star.

Knight, a senior from Alfred, set a single-season school record with 77 goals to help the Huskies win their first Little East Conference title.

Knight scored 18 goals in the conference tournament to help the No. 5 Huskies win three straight games for the title.

They lost in their NCAA Division III tournament opener, the school’s first appearance.

n Freshman Bethany Dumas of Augusta will compete today in javelin at the NCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships in Berea, Ohio. She will be among 18 participants vying for the national title at 4 p.m.
Dumas qualified with a throw of 40.56 meters at the New England Alliance and LEC championships last month.

n Freshman Anthony Stanton of Acton joins Dumas at the national championships and will be among 18 competitors in the men’s high jump at 2:30 p.m. Saturday

Stanton, who was an All-American in the high jump during the winter season, qualified with a jump of 6 feet, 83⁄4 inches.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND

Lacrosse standout Ginny Lee was named to the 2010 ECAC Division III New England region second team. She also was named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III Pilgrim Region second team.

Lee, a senior defender from York, helped anchor a defense that allowed 9.83 goals per game and cleared 66.4 percent (200 of 301) of possessions gained in the defensive end.

BOWDOIN

Singles tennis standout Stephen Sullivan will compete in the NCAA Division III individual championship at Oberlin College in Ohio this weekend.

Sullivan, who went 9-4 at No. 1 singles, is one of just 32 individual qualifiers in the nation.

This is his third straight trip. Last year he reached the NCAA semifinal round.

Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at:

jmenendez@pressherald.com