ORONO – If the University of Maine baseball team is going to advance in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, it will have to do it the hard way – out of the losers’ bracket.

Coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ Black Bears made a late threat Friday night, but couldn’t overcome an early five-run deficit in their first-round game at Dedeaux Field.

Aaron Young flied out to deep left field with two runners on in the top of the ninth as Cal State Northridge hung on for a 7-4 victory.

Third-seeded UMaine (40-16) faces No. 4 seed Brigham Young (29-30-1) today in a 2 p.m. elimination game. If UMaine wins, it would advance to face the loser of the 6 p.m. winners’ bracket contest between host and No. 1 seed Southern California and Northridge at 10 p.m.

A second loss sends the Bears back to Orono. Two wins Saturday would get them into Sunday’s championship round.

USC edged the Cougars 5-4 in 12 innings in Friday’s tourney opener.

UMaine’s rally was too little, too late.

The Bears finally chased Kameron Loe (4-3), the Matadors’ No. 2 starter, in the ninth when Mike Ross beat out an infield hit, Jesse Carlton rapped a one-out single to center and Mike Livulpi grounded a run-scoring single to center.

Loe was lifted in favor of lefthander Andy Davidson, who got Young to fly out. Loe spaced eight hits, striking out 10 and walking only one.

Livulpi paced the UMaine offense out of the No. 9 position, stroking three singles. Ryan Haag sparked the Matadors with a double and a grand slam.

Sophomore righthander Mike MacDonald (7-3) turned in a gritty effort for the Bears. While he allowed 10 hits, he struck out nine and walked two.

He appeared to get a 3-1 fastball up in the strike zone on the critical Haag grand slam that gave Northridge all the momentum it would need.

The Matadors scored once in the first inning, then put up four in the second inning for a quick 5-0 lead.

Leadoff man Haag laced the game’s second pitch into the gap in left-center for a double, taking third when center fielder Livulpi boxed the ball around on the warning track. He scored on a passed ball by Alain Picard.

The Matadors got right back to business in the second. Tim Arroyo ripped a single to right, then Jason Allec and Adam Nikolic each beat out bunt singles along the third-base line.

Adam McKenzie chopped into a 2-3 fielder’s choice, then MacDonald struck out Rudy Simpson, but Haag smashed a grooved 3-1 fastball over the right-field fence for a momentous grand slam.

UMaine got some baserunners in the third when Livulpi beat out an infield hit and Aaron Young walked, both with two out. However, Loe got Brett Ouellette on a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop.

The Bears were unable to get any sort of offense going over the first five innings against Loe, whose sidearm delivery enhanced the effectiveness of his slurve-like breaking pitch.

To make matters worse for UMaine, the Matadors tacked on a disputed run in the fifth, again scoring after two were out.

Shaun Larkin laced a single to right, then came all the way around from first on Eric Verbryke’s smashed double past first base. UMaine appeared to cut down Larkin on Ouellette’s relay throw to the plate, but after the teams retreated to their respective dugouts, the umpires convened and ruled Bears catcher Alain Picard had dropped the ball making the tag.

UMaine responded by scoring its first two runs of the tournament. With one out, Aaron Young beat out a bunt single for the Bears’ second hit.

After Loe hit Ouellette, the runners moved up on Picard’s bouncer to first. Joe Drapeau then cashed in, lashing a two-run single to left-center, getting the Bears back within four at 6-2.

UMaine got another run back in the eighth inning. Livulpi stung an opposite-field single to left, took second when Haag made a superb play on Ouellette’s high chopper to third, and scored when Picard roped an RBI single to center field.

However, Northridge got the run back in the bottom of the inning on a walk, a throwing error by Picard, Allec’s single to right and a McKenzie sacrifice fly.

Friday’s second game started 20 minutes late because the USC-BYU contest went 12 innings.

Southern Cal 5, BYU 4

Brian Barre led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a home run to give Southern California a 5-4 victory over Brigham Young.

Matt Carson’s sacrifice fly in the seventh gave the Cougars (29-30-1) a 4-3 lead, but Southern California (35-22) tied it in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Jon Brewster.

Jeff Mousser (9-5) pitched eight innings for the Cougars, allowing six hits and four runs. USC reliever Brett Bannister (8-3) was the winner, allowing two hits and no runs over six innings.

West Coast hospitality

UMaine and the other three teams playing in the Los Angeles Regional – Southern California, Cal State Northridge and Brigham Young – gathered Thursday evening for a pretournament banquet at USC.

The event was held in the Galen Athletic Center, a cafeteria-type building used by USC athletics. The Bears situated themselves in booths around the perimeter of the room, while the other teams sat mostly at tables in the center.

Those in attendance were treated to a delicious meal of beef, lemon pepper chicken, salad, mashed potatoes, grilled squash, and cookies. The players spent most of the time watching the Atlanta Braves-Montreal Expos game, which was broadcast over numerous television screens that hung from the ceiling throughout the room.

The informal event was brought to a close with a few comments by USC coach Mike Gillespie, who welcomed the teams to the Regional and jokingly encouraged them to have some fun.

MATADORS 7, BLACK BEARS 4

Maine (40-16) Cal State Northridge (41-15)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Young, rf 4 1 1 0 Haag, 3b 3 2 4

Ouellette, 2b 3 1 0 0 Gorman, ss 3 0

Picard, c 4 0 1 1 Larkin, 2b 4 1 0

Drapeau, 3b 4 0 1 2 Verbryke, rf 4 0 1

Ross, lf 4 1 1 0 Arroyo, 1b 3 1 0

Williams, dh 4 0 0 0 Allec, c 3 1 0

Carlton, 1b 4 0 1 0 Nikolic, cf 3 1 0

b-Saunders 0 0 0 0 McKenzie, dh 3 1 1

Ferriggi, ss 3 0 0 0 Simpson, lf 4 0 0

a-Reynolds 1 0 0 0

Livulpi, cf 4 1 3 1

Totals 35 4 8 4 Totals 30 7 10 6

a-struck out for Ferriggi in 9th; b-ran for Carlton in the 9th

Maine 000 002 011 ? 4

Cal State Northridge 140 010 01x ? 7

E?Livulpi (2), Picard (2); Gorman (12), Nikolic (8); LOB?Maine 3, Cal State Northridge 3; 2B?Haag, Verbryke; HR?Haag (3); DP?Haag-Larkin-Arroyo; S?Nikolic, Gorman; SF?McKenzie; SB?Haag (8)

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

MacDonald (L, 7-3) 8 10 7 6 2 9

Cal State Northridge IP H R ER BB SO

Loe (W, 5-3) 8 2/3 8 4 4 1 10

Davidson (S, 1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

HBP?Ouellette by Loe; Haag by MacDonald; PB?Picard; T?2:37; ATT?500 (est.)