The University of Maine has fielded a baseball team since 1881. During those 120 years, there have been several great Black Bear teams, but none has ever started a season with a 9-0 record.

That is the challenge at hand for the 2001 UMaine squad, which hopes to make history during a game against perennial Southeastern Conference power Florida.

Coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ 8-0 Bears play the first of a two-game series against the 11-13 Gators tonight at 7 with the hope of establishing a first for the program.

UMaine is coming off back-to-back days off after Sunday’s game against Akron was canceled by rain. Monday was a scheduled off day for the Bears, who traveled from Daytona Beach to Gainesville.

UMaine had played eight games in seven days – while traveling from Maine to Florida by bus – to open the season.

Kostacopoulos, who is expecting a high level of competition from Florida, hopes his Bears can continue the kind of steady, all-around play that has characterized the first eight games of their now 14-game southern swing.

UMaine checks in with a team batting average of .359, led by sophomore center fielder Mike Livulpi (.500), senior first baseman Jon Hambelton (.481, 13 RBIs) and sophomore third baseman Joe Drapeau (.457, 4 home runs, 20 RBIs).

The pitching has been outstanding, with the staff posting a 3.14 earned run average with 52 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 63 innings. Freshman Mike Collar of Scarborough has led the way, going 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 14 innings.

Tonight, the Bears are expected to start junior lefthander Rusty Tucker (1-0), who debuted last Wednesday with six innings of three-hit ball against Bethune-Cookman.

Florida is coming off a tough series against eighth-ranked Louisiana State, which swept three games from the Gators at Baton Rouge last weekend.

Florida is led by shortstop Kevin Estrada (.388, 16 RBIs), outfielder Matt Goss (.365, 20 RBIs) and first baseman Ryan Shealy (.348, 4 HR, 23 RBIs).

The Bears and Gators square off again Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Saint Joseph’s players honored

Carolyn Brown, Cassie Turcotte, Stacey Gelinas and Sue Picard of the Saint Joseph’s College women’s basketball team have picked up postseason honors after helping the Monks from Standish win the Maine Athletic Conference championship and earn a trip to the NAIA National Tournament.

Brown and Turcotte were named to the NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete Team, while Gelinas and Picard were accorded NAIA Kodak All-American honorable mentions.

Brown, a senior from Auburn, was an All-MAC pick after averaging 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds. She maintained a 3.9 grade point average. Turcotte, a senior from Peru, averaged 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while posting a 3.66 GPA.

Gelinas, a junior from Biddeford, was named the MAC Player of the Year while averaging 13.8 points and 5.0 assists. Picard, a junior from Saco, was an All-MAC choice who averaged 12.4 points for 22-5 Saint Joseph’s.

Seth Cole wins NEPA scholarship

Seth Cole of Blue Hill, a senior journalism major at Saint Michael’s College in Burlington, Vt., has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship recipient by the New England Press Association.

Cole, who has done internships at the Burlington Free Press and with the Saint Michael’s sports information department, is one of four students to be so honored.

The 1997 graduate of George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill has written stories about football, soccer, field hockey, baseball and hockey while keeping statistics for several sports. Cole also plays second base for the Purple Knights and was named a national scholar-athlete last year.