Bouncing back the weekend after the annual two-week southern trip has often been a difficult proposition for the University of Maine baseball team.

The Black Bears struggled a bit Friday and Saturday in non-conference play at New York Tech, but still clawed out two victories on Long Island against a good Bears ballclub.

UMaine’s hitting was sporadic, the defense a bit shaky and the pitching spotty, but coach Paul Kostacopoulos knows it is a long season.

“We were behind in two games and we came back and won,” he said of the positives. “We just weren’t sharp in any facets of the game.”

The Bears, who have yet to set foot on Mahaney Diamond this spring, continue to seek improvement with sessions in the field house or on the Morse Field AstroTurf.

“We need constant maintenance and we didn’t prepare well enough last week to win,” Kostacopoulos said. “No team is good enough to go out there and think they cannot have a good week of preparation and still expect to win.”

Among the bright spots were junior catcher Alain Picard, junior center fielder Mike Livulpi and junior pitcher Adam Labelle.

Picard returned after missing five games with a hamstring pull and went 7-for-16 (.438) with three doubles and three RBIs. Livulpi had six hits in 13 at-bats (.462).

“Defensively and hitting-wise, they were our two most consistent players,” Kostacopoulos said.

Labelle (2-1) turned in his fourth straight strong outing. In a four-inning relief stint Saturday, he allowed four hits and one run in four innings of relief to earn the victory.

“We’ve got to keep him in consideration [for a starting spot],” Kostacopoulos said. “He’s pitched really well.”

And while Mike Collar gutted out an 11-hit, complete-game outing Friday, the other three UMaine starters lasted an average of only 2? innings, giving up 22 hits and 20 runs combined.

“We’ve got a lot to do,” Kostacopoulos said. “If we can improve, we can be there with anybody. That comes with solidifying your pitching and being much more consistent than we were over the weekend.”

UMaine has one more week to get ready for America East play, which begins this weekend. However, the Bears received a bye and won’t start league play until their April 13-14 series at Northeastern.

UMFK’s Nadeau recognized for work

Jerry Nadeau, the associate director of admissions at the University of Maine-Fort Kent, is featured in the March edition of NEA Today, a national publication designed and distributed by the National Education Association, for his recent work at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Nadeau traveled in February to Utah, where he served as one of six range supervisors at the Olympic biathlon site. In Maine, he volunteers with the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent and serves as the chief of the shooting range at the facility during state, regional, national and international competitions.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Nadeau said. “To be a witness to a competition that featured some of the world’s best athletes was a thrill in itself. To be noted in a national publication for it is icing on the cake.”

Nadeau has worked in the UMFK admissions office for 20 years.