CLEMSON, S.C. – Michael Johnson, Chad Coder, and Collin Mahoney each belted a three-run home run Friday night to power second-ranked Clemson to a 13-0 baseball victory over the University of Maine at Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers (17-1) shut out the Black Bears (9-4) for the second straight night as starter Steven Jackson two-hit UMaine for six innings before B.J. LaMura and Paul Harrelson came on to hold the Bears hitless over the final three innings.

Offensively, the Bears managed only Jesse Carlton’s two-out bloop single to right field in the second inning and a hard infield single off the pitcher by Joe Drapeau in the fourth.

“Offensively, we didn’t do anything and they had 13 runs,” Kostacopoulos said. “They’re good. With these guys, it really doesn’t do any good to take pitches.”

UMaine has been held scoreless for 18 consecutive innings. The Bears hadn’t been shut out in back to back games since losing 9-0 and 7-0 to Miami during the 1991 southern trip.

In today’s 2 p.m. game, the Bears face Clemson ace Steve Reba. The All-American righthander is 5-0 with a 3.06 earned run average.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle [to hit Reba], but we’re going to have to try to do it and try to get on the board a little bit,” Kostacopoulos said.

UMaine pitchers struggled Friday, combining to issue 10 walks. Starter Rich Laganiere (2-1) walked seven in 4? innings. Five of the 10 players who walked eventually came on to score.

Conversely, Clemson pitchers did not walk a UMaine batter.

Kostacopoulos said the Bears knew they couldn’t afford to groove pitches down the middle against the Tigers.

“We were trying to sit on corners, in or out. It’s a function of having respect for them as hitters,” said Kostacopoulos, who wasn’t totally displeased with Laganiere’s effort.

It was the longest outing in a UMaine uniform for the junior, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair an elbow injury.

“He battled and got out of a couple jams. It took every ounce of energy to get out of those jams and I think he ran out of gas,” Kostacopoulos said.

The Bears played strong defense again, turning a double play and committing only one error – a dropped foul ball that wound up not figuring in the scoring.

Clemson broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fourth inning against Laganiere. Khalil Greene walked and took third on a single by Jeff Baker, who stole second.

Johnson scored a run with a single to right, then Jarrod Schmidt hit an RBI single to right before Laganiere worked his way out of further trouble.

The Tigers broke the game open with six runs in the fifth. Walks to Green and Baker set the table for Johnson, who belted his 10th homer of the season to make it 5-0. Laganiere walked Schmidt and surrendered an infield hit to Jeff Hourigan before Coder cranked a three-run homer to left.

Reliever Ryan Harris walked two batters in the seventh, setting the stage for Mahoney’s three-run blast, then another walk preceded a two-run homer by Roberto Valiente.

Southern Maine splits two games

At Fort Myers, Fla., Craig Gureckis hit a school record-tying three home runs and had four RBIs as the Huskies defeated Babson College 6-3 after falling to Hope College 6-4 earlier in the day.

In the second game, Southern Maine rebounded as Tyler Delorme had a double and two singles against Babson, while Pat McCarthy added a double and a single for the Huskies. Erik Kent pitched five innings for the win, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out three batters for his first collegiate victory.

Joe Kehoe had a homer and single for Babson.

In the first game, B.J. Maas hit a three-run homer to highlight a five-run third inning for Hope.

(First game)

Southern Maine 003 000 1 – 4 6 0

Hope (9-1) 015 000 x – 6 7 1

Thibodeau and L’Italien, Melanson (6); Billingsley, Widenmier (3) and MacKenzie.

(Second game)

Babson (1-6) 011 001 0 – 3 10 0

Southern Maine (3-1) 122 010 x – 6 11 0

Forte and Kehoe; Kent, Andrews (6), Boileau (7) and Pat McDonough

Softball

Badgers, Gators blank Maine

At Gainesville, Fla., the Florida Gators and Wisconsin Badgers each threw shutouts at Maine in the Florida Tournament at Gainesville, Fla., Friday.

Mandy Schuerman pitched a one-hitter, struck out 10, and walked three as the Gators won the second game 6-0.

Wisconsin scored two runs in the top of the first and Katie Layne struck out seven Black Bears as the Badgers won the first game 2-0.

In the second game, Jackie Marchetta was the lone Maine player to get a hit against Schuerman with a single. Candace Jaegge allowed nine hits in seven innings while giving up five earned runs.

Jenilee Garner doubled and drove in three runs for Florida. Schuerman also singled and stole a base.

In the opener, Layne allowed four hits and walked two batters in the win. Jennifer Merchant allowed four hits, two runs, two walks, and struck out three.

Anna Joules knocked in both Wisconsin runs with a single. Aliesha Rautenberg singled twice for Maine.

(First Game)

Wisconsin (15-7) 200 000 0 – 2 4 1

Maine (11-11) 000 000 0 – 0 4 0

Layne and Starry; Merchant and Tibbetts.

(Second Game)

Florida (16-21) 004 000 2 – 6 9 1

Maine (11-12) 000 000 0 – 0 3 1

Schuerman and Borger; Jaegge and Bain.

Southern Maine wins pair

At Fort Myers, Fla., the Huskies rallied for four runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat St. Lawrence in the first game 6-5. USM beat SUNY-Oneonta in the second game 6-0.

Sunshine Anders hit an RBI single and Sarah McLean hit a two-run double to tie the game for USM. Renee Heath knocked in the game-winner with a misplayed line drive.

Jessie Becher pitched 6? innings, surrendering two earned runs and eight hits for USM. Reliever Jodie Eldridge struck out one batter in her ? of an inning for the win.

Melissa Henderson of the Huskies gave up four singles while striking out seven batters in the second game. Heath hit a two-run double during a six-run fourth inning against SUNY-Oneonta to aid in the win.

(First Game)

St. Lawrence (6-3) 100 000 4 – 5 8 3

Southern Maine (2-1) 002 000 4 – 6 12 3

Becher, Eldridge (6) and Heath; Tuttle and Circelli.

(Second Game)

Southern Maine (3-1) 000 600 0 – 6 9 0

SUNY-Oneonta (6-2) 000 000 0 – 0 4 3

Henderson and Tong; Moxley and Hodges.

TIGERS 13, BLACK BEARS 0

Maine (9-4) Clemson (17-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Livulpi, cf 3 0 0 0 Slevin, 2b 3 0 0

a-Creek 1 0 0 0 Triplett, 2b 0 1 0

Reynolds, 3b 3 0 0 0 Frank, lf 3 0 0

b-Houston 1 0 0 0 Valiente, lf 1 1 2

Ross, dh 3 0 0 0 Greene, ss 2 2 0

c-Izaryk 1 0 0 0 Baker, 3b 4 2 0

Drapeau, c 3 0 1 0 Johnson, 1b 5 1 4

Williams, lf 3 0 0 0 Smith, 1b 0 0 0

Carlton, 1b 2 0 1 0 Schmidt, rf 2 1 1

Tobin, 1b 1 0 0 0 Green, rf 1 1 0

Reichley, ss 3 0 0 0 Hourigan, dh 3 1 0

Ouellette, 2b 3 0 0 0 Evans, dh 1 0

Young, rf 2 0 0 0 Coder, cf 3 2 3

Saunders, rf 1 0 0 0 Hub, cf` 1 0 0

Mahoney, c 3 1 2 3

Miller, c 0 0 0 0

Totals 30 0 2 0 Totals 32 13 9 13

a-struck out for Livulpi in the ninth; b-reached on fielder’s choice for Reynolds in the ninth; c-grounded out for Ross in the ninth

Maine 000 000 000 ? 0

Clemson 000 260 50x ? 13

E?Ouellette; Evans, Triplett; LOB?Maine 3; Clemson 7; 2B?Mahoney; HR?Johnson (10), Coder (1), Valiente (1), Mahoney (3); DP?Reynolds-Ouellette-Tobin; SB?Frank, Baker, Greene

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Laganiere (L,2-1) 4? 6 8 8 7 3

Harris 3? 3 5 5 3 2

Clemson IP H R ER BB SO

Jackson (W,3-1) 6 2 0 0 0 4

LaMura 2 0 0 0 0 3

Harrelson 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP?Greene by Harris; WP?Harris; T?2:19; ATT?1,815