ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Mike Ross drilled a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning Friday, capping a five-RBI performance that propelled the University of Maine to an 8-7 baseball victory over Fordham.

Ross, a junior outfielder, stroked two-run doubles in the second and fourth innings for the Black Bears, who improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1903, when UMaine opened the season 8-0.

Redshirt freshman Ryan Harris earned the win with a 2?-inning relief stint during which he allowed three hits and three runs. Eric Johnson notched the save with 1? no-hit innings.

UMaine prevailed despite being outhit 15-6 by the Rams (1-5).

“Winning begets winning and we think we’re a little bit better than we actually are right now,” quipped UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos. “Today we had to find a way to win. This is the first time that I feel like we didn’t play very well. We hit in the clutch and we were opportunistic.”

Keith Genest of Augusta and Jesse Carlton each rapped an RBI double during the Bears’ five-run second inning, which was aided by two Fordham errors.

Freshman starter Mike MacDonald of Camden battled, allowing 12 hits and four runs in five innings while stranding seven baserunners.

“It was an average performance but a way-above-average competitive spirit,” Kostacopoulos said. “I’m more happy about how he competed than how he threw.”

The Bears scored five times in the second inning. Alain Picard reached on an error and stole second, then Jon Hambelton walked to set up Carlton’s run-scoring double. One out later, Genest doubled in a run.

Mark Reichley reached on an error to keep the inning going, setting the stage for Ross’s two-run double.

Fordham tallied one in the third as Robert Kingsbury doubled, stole third and scored on a groundout.

UMaine made it 7-1 in the fourth on Reichley’s one-out single, a walk to Aaron Young of Augusta and Ross’s two-run double. The Rams scored three times in the fifth on an RBI double by Anthony Vega and run-scoring singles by Ted Kearns and Tim Boyle.

Fordham rallied for three more in the seventh off Harris, aided by a Reichley error. Boyle had an RBI double in the uprising, but catcher Joe Drapeau threw out Justin Walker trying to steal third, ending the inning.

“He caught very well today. He threw two guys out at third base who tried to steal,” Kostacopoulos said of Drapeau, who went 0-for-4 after driving in seven runs with four hits, including two homers, on Thursday night.

Bear tracks… Senior second baseman Quin Peel suffered a dislocation and a hairline fracture to a finger on his right (throwing) hand when struck with a hard grounder Thursday night. He is listed as day-to-day… UMaine takes on Iowa today at 10 a.m. in a single nine-inning game.

Black Bears 8, Rams 7

Fordham (1-5) Maine (7-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Kingsbury, cf 5 1 2 0 Livulpi, cf 2 0

Conlisk, 2b 5 1 1 1 Young, cf 1 1 0

Vega, c 5 2 4 1 Ross, lf 4 1 5

Boyle, 3b 4 2 3 2 Drapeau, c 4 0 0

Cisco, rf 5 1 2 0 Picard, 2b 4 1 0

Kearns, dh 5 0 2 1 Hambelton, dh 2 1 0

Walker, lf 3 0 1 0 Carlton, 1b 4 1 1

Lang, 1b 3 0 0 0 Tobin, 3b 4 0 0

Ciccone, 1b 1 0 0 1 Genest, rf 3 0 1

Thomas, ss 4 0 0 0 Williams, rf 1 0 0

Reichley, ss 3 2 1 0

Totals 40 7 15 6 Totals 12 8 6 7

Fordham 001 030 300 ? 7

Maine 050 200 10x ? 8

E?Lang, Thomas; Reichley

LOB?Fordham 9; Maine 3

D?Kingsbury, Vega, Boyle, Ross 2

T?Vega

HR?Ross (2)

DP?Maine 1

SB?Kingsbury, Vega, Picard

Fordham IP R ER H BB SO

Reyes 4 7 2 5 3 3

Kaible 1 0 0 0 0 1

Paolillo (L,1-1) 3 1 1 1 0 4

Maine IP R ER H BB SO

MacDonald 5 4 4 12 1 2

Harris (W, 1-0) 2? 3 2 3 1 2

Johnson (S, 1) 1? 0 0 0 0 1

WP?Harris

Husson 10, Salem State 4

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Donnie Sawyer led Husson with a double and two RBIs.

Tony Creek followed up with two singles and one RBI, and John McGlinn recorded a two-run single.

Salem State (3-3) 000 110 020 – 4 8 7

Husson (6-5) 300 321 10x – 10 10 3

Cahill, Bouchie (5), Goddu (5) and Foskett; Simmons, Dionne (9) and Prescott

Saint Joseph’s sweeps Skidmore

At Fort Myers, Fla., Monks pitchers combined to allow only seven hits and Saint Joseph’s of Standish pounded out 21 in a doubleheader sweep of Skidmore (N.Y.)

The Monks won the opener 5-4 and took the second game 12-3.

In the first game, Lucas Hannigan (1 RBI) and Matt VanDerburgh singled three times each to back the three-hit pitching of Charlie Buker. Steve Osborne doubled and singled with an RBI, while Jesse Lacasse smacked a three-run home run.

In the nightcap, Lacasse knocked in four runs with a triple and a double to lead Saint Joseph’s.

(First Game)

Skidmore 100 030 0 – 4 3 3

Saint Joseph’s 000 040 1 – 5 10 1

Bush, Perry (6), McGorty (6) and Neary; Dan, Buker and Prunier

(Second Game)

Saint Joseph’s (7-0) 443 100 – 12 11 1

Skidmore (4-4) 200 100 – 3 4 5

Dan, Gilbert (5) and Goulet; Harrison, Russell (2), O’Dell (3) and Gober

Softball

Black Bears lose two

At Clearwater Fla., the University of Maine suffered two losses in softball action.

The University of Akron beat Maine 2-0 in the first game, while Rutgers shut out the Black Bears 4-0 in the nightcap.

In the first game, Keretin Sewell’s two-run home run in the fifth inning was the difference.

Amanda Stevens doubled and Karen Sherwood singled for the Bears to back the six-hit pitching of Carrie Green.

In the second game, Rutgers’ Brielle Cosentino three-hit UMaine.

Losing pitcher Ashley Yuhas singled twice for UMaine.

(First Game)

Maine (4-11) 000 000 0 – 0 2 2

Akron (6-7) 000 020 0 – 2 6 3

Green and Stevens; Keenan and Villard

(Second Game)

Rutgers (5-9) 001 020 1 – 4 6 1

Maine (4-12) 000 000 0 – 0 3 5

Cosentino and Minkel; Yuhas and Bain

Saint Joseph’s sweeps twinbill

At Fort Myers, Fla., Searsport’s Sarah Webster pitched a four-hit shutout as the Monks blanked the Albertus Magnus (Conn.) Falcons 2-0 Friday afternoon. In the second game, Webster drove in two runs to lead the Monks to a 4-3 win over North Central of Illinois.

In the first game, Webster (3-1) struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter. Saint Joseph’s of Standish scored the only run it would need in the second inning.

(First Game)

Albertus Magnus (4-5) 000 000 0 – 0 4 0

Saint Joseph’s (4-4) 010 001 x – 2 5 0

Giordano and Fleischer; Webster and Picard

(Second Game)

North Central (1-1) 001 000 20 – 3 6 0

Saint Joseph’s (5-4) 010 003 01 – 4 6 1

Pederson, Ingram (6) and Morris; Regan, Gaudette (7) and Picard