CLEMSON, S.C. – It was another close call for the University of Maine baseball team Friday night.

The Black Bears again hung tough against 14th-ranked Clemson, but the hosts eked out a 7-6 victory in front of 3,008 fans at Kingsmore Stadium.

UMaine, which slipped to 9-5, collected 13 hits but wound up stranding 10 runners on base. The Bears and Tigers play the series finale today at 2 p.m.

UMaine’s players view the close losses to Clemson (15-3), the winner of 12 straight, as a catch-22.

“I think there’s a lot of disappointment on the team, but at the same time a lot of encouragement,” said sophomore catcher Aaron Izaryk. “Whenever you’re in a one-run or two-run game with a team like Clemson, you want to believe you can win those games.”

The Bears had some chances to put more runs on the board Friday night, but couldn’t come up with clutch hits in a handful of key situations.

“The last two nights we’ve played well enough to win. We just haven’t got that big hit or that one big play,” Izaryk said.

UMaine led briefly after scoring a run in the top of the fifth. Joe Drapeau singled, Izaryk reached on a fielder’s choice and, after Ryan Quintal walked, Jesse Carlton singled to load the bases.

Mike Ferriggi plated a run with a groundout to third, but reliever Adam Walker came on to strike out Aaron Young.

Undaunted, the Tigers reclaimed the advantage with a two-run sixth against reliever Adam Labelle (1-1). Roberto Valiente led off with a single, Collin Mahoney doubled and Herman Demmink followed with a two-run single that provided the eventual winning margin.

Freshman shortstop Steve Gambale paced UMaine with three singles and an RBI, while Ferriggi provided two singles and two RBIs. Joe Drapeau of Biddeford posted a double and an RBI single, Jesse Carlton doubled and singled, and Alain Picard singled twice for the Bears.

Kyle Frank stroked a double and three singles for Clemson, while Valienti had a double and two singles. Jeff Hourgian belted a two-run home run in the third among his two hits.

UMaine threatened in the seventh when Quintal reached on a fielder’s choice and Ferriggi singled to right, but Adam Walker fanned Young and induced Livulpi to fly out to end the threat.

The Tigers jumped on the Bears for three runs in the first off starter Ryan Harris. Garrick Evans doubled and scored on Russell Triplett’s triple, before Michael Johnson reached on a throwing error by Drapeau at third base, allowing a run to score. One out later, Frank singled to left to score Johnson.

UMaine responded with two runs in the second. Izaryk walked, took third on Carlton’s double and scored on a Quintal groundout. Carlton rode home on Ferriggi’s sacrifice fly.

The Bears tied it in the third when Picard reached on an infield hit and scored on Drapeau’s double to left.

TIGERS 7, BLACK BEARS 6

Maine (9-5) Clemson (15-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Livulpi, cf 5 1 1 1 Evans, dh 5 1 0

Gambale, ss 5 0 3 1 Triplett, ss 5 0 0

Picard, dh 5 1 2 0 Johnson, 1b 3 1 0

Drapeau, 3b 5 0 2 1 McCann, 3b 4 0 0

Izaryk, c 4 2 0 0 Frank, cf 4 2 1

Carlton, 1b 4 1 2 0 Hourigan, rf 4 1 2

Quintal, lf 4 0 0 1 Valiente, lf 4 1 1

Ferriggi, 2b 3 1 2 2 Mahoney, c 4 1 0

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

Totals 38 6 13 6 Totals 37 7 13 6

Maine 021 210 000 ? 6

Clemson 302 002 00x ? 7

E?Drapeau (1), Carlton (1); LOB?Maine 10, Clemson 7; 2B?Drapeau, Carlton; Evans, Frank, Valiente, Mahoney; HR?Hourigan (1); DP?Gambale-Ferriggi-Carlton 2; S?Young; SF? Ferriggi; SB?Livulpi (3), Gambale (1)

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Harris 5 8 5 2 0 6

Labelle (L,1-1) 3 5 2 2 1 2

Clemson IP H R ER BB SO

Harvey 3 2/3 8 5 5 1 2

Murphy 1 2 1 1 1 1

Walker (W,1-0) 2 1/3 3 0 0 1 4

Cribb 1 0 0 0 0 1

Hogan (S,2) 1 0 0 0 0 2

T? 2:46; ATT? 3,006

Softball

Huskies drop two

At Fort Myers, Fla., the University of Southern Maine softball team dropped a pair of games to start their season, 6-3 to North Central in the opener and 5-4 to Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the nightcap.

In the first game, Jenna Congdon’s two-out, two-run single in the third inning gave the Cardinals of Naperville, Ill., a lead they’d never relinquish.

For the Huskies of Gorham, Ang Cote laced a pair of doubles, while Renee Heath and Darci Holland each drove in a run.

In the second game, Karen Guckenberger tossed seven innings of four-hit ball after the Huskies touched Jeanelle Roth for four runs in the first.

Sarah McLean rocked an RBI double for Southern Maine. Natasha Jackson had an RBI groundout, and Holland and Kristen Tong each added an RBI single.

(First Game)

Southern Maine (0-1) 100 100 1 – 3 7 2

North Central (1-1) 103 002 x – 6 9 1

Henderson and Tong; Pederson and Congdon

(Second Game)

Wisc.-Stevens Pt. (5-4) 400 100 0 – 5 13 0

Southern Maine (0-2) 400 000 0 – 4 6 2

Roth, Guckenberger (1) and Lubbard; Eldridge, Mainville (5) and Tong