DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Freshman righthander Paul Bruder scattered three hits through six innings and classmates Scott Robinson and Greg Creek also pitched scoreless ball in relief as the University of Maine baseball team posted a 20-0 victory over Long Island University at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Simon Williams of Portland and Matt Reynolds stroked three hits each as the Black Bears piled up 22 hits. Williams singled three times and scored three runs, while Reynolds had three singles.

Alain Picard knocked in four runs with three singles and Jesse Carlton poked a solo homer and an RBI single for the winners. Mark Reichley doubled and singled, while Aaron Young of Augusta and Pat Tobin added two singles each.

Freshman Adam Houston smacked a two-run home run for the Bears, who scored five runs in the fourth to help break the game open.

Bruder, who enrolled at UMaine in January, struck out three and walked two in his debut.

“Paul Bruder did a great job,” said UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos. “He went in there and in the first three innings had to go out and get nine outs before we started scoring. He didn’t go out there and get all nervous.”

UMaine expects a much tougher test in Thursday’s 7 p.m. game against NCAA Regional participant Bethune-Cookman.

Black Bears off to solid start

At first glance, fans of the UMaine baseball team might be amazed by the 77 runs (19.3 per game) the Bears have scored while bolting to a 4-0 start during their southern trip.

Kostacopoulos is the first to downplay that statistic.

“Forget the runs. The runs are meaningless,” Kostacopoulos said Wednesday from his hotel room in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“We haven’t driven the ball up the gap at all,” he said. “We’ve scored a lot of runs because of some opponents that haven’t been very good.”

What has been impressive is UMaine’s play in the field and its pitching. The Bears have committed only one error, while the pitchers have combined on a 1.93 earned run average while striking out 36 and walking only five.

“What I’ve been really impressed with so far is, coming out of the gym, we’ve made one error,” Kostacopoulos said. “For a Maine team, for a northern team, that’s pretty good.”

The youthful pitching staff also has performed well early.

“It doesn’t matter who’s out there, you still have to throw the ball over the plate,” Kostacopoulos said. “You’ve got to throw strikes and you’ve got to field the ball.”

Sophomores Mike Collar of Scarborough, Mike MacDonald of Camden and Rich Laganiere, along with Bruder, all have won their initial starts. Robinson, Creek, Adam Labelle and Ryan Harris have been solid in relief stints.

“We’re going to use all those guys,” Kostacopoulos said.

BLACK BEARS 20, BLACK BIRDS 0

Maine (4-0) Long Island (0-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Livulpi, cf 2 1 0 1 Valvano, 2b 3 0 0

Saunders, lf 2 0 1 1 Lopez, 2b 1 0 0

Williams, lf-cf 7 3 3 2 Kotarski, lf 3 0

Ross, dh 4 2 1 2 Bambino, lf 1 0 0

Izaryk, dh 1 0 1 0 Thompson, 1b 3 0 0

Drapeau, 3b-c 6 0 1 2 a-Shoffler 1 0

Picard, c 4 2 2 4 Farrison, cf 3 0 0

Ferriggi, 2b-ss 2 1 1 0 Wilson, rf 4 0

Reynolds, 2b-3b 6 2 3 0 Inserra, 3b 2 0

Carlton, 1b 3 2 2 2 Zapata, ss 3 0 0

Tobin, 1b 2 2 2 0 Barrios, dh 3 0 0

Reichley, ss 3 1 2 1 Bennett, c 2 0 0

Houston, 3b 2 2 1 3

Young, rf 4 2 2 2

Totals 48 20 22 20 Totals 29 0 5 0

a-flied out for Thompson in the ninth

Maine 001 514 324 ? 20

Long Island 000 000 000 ? 0

E?Valvano 2, Farrison, Zapata; LOB?Maine 12; LIU 5; 2B?Saunders, Reichley; HR?Carlton (1), Houston (1); DP?Drapeau-Reynolds-Carlton, Ferriggi-Reichley-Tobin; Thompson-Zapata-Thompson, Valvano-Zapata-Thompson; SF?Drapeau, Young; SB?Livulpi 2, Williams, Ross 2, Picard

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Bruder (W,1-0) 6 3 0 0 2 3

Robinson 2 2 0 0 0 4

Creek 1 0 0 0 0 0

Long Island IP H R ER BB SO

Hopkins (L,0-1) 5? 8 11 10 7 2

Sarrica 3? 14 9 8 2 1

Meyer ? 0 0 0 0 0

HBP?Inserra by Bruder; WP?Bruder; Hopkins, Sarrica 2; PB?Bennett; T?3:03; ATT?125