ORONO – The University of Maine baseball team is less than two weeks away from the start of its America East schedule.

In the meantime, the Black Bears continue to work hard seeking improvement and consistency.

Coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ Bears are 12-9 coming off a split of their four-game weekend series at New York Tech.

“Positives come out of these nonconference situations,” said Kostacopoulos, who is looking to finalize a regular lineup with a Friday doubleheader at Sacred Heart and a Saturday nonleague game at conference rival Northeastern.

“We’ve got to switch gears,” Kostacopoulos said. “This is the weekend that we’ve got to start transitioning and try to get rolling.”

One of the bright spots against New York Tech was freshman Ross Cantara of Biddeford. He went 5-for-7 in a designated hitter role on his way to America East Rookie of the Week honors.

“Ross hasn’t had much of an opportunity the way things have gone, but he had a real good weekend and that was real positive for him,” Kostacopoulos said.

Junior Greg Creek of Chelsea continued his hitting success, going 5-for-13 with four RBIs. He is 10-for-26 (.385) with six RBIs over the last seven games.

“He’s really been a bona fide hitter for us,” Kostacopoulos said. “He’s one of the few kids on this team who can hit balls in, balls away, breaking balls. He really understands what he needs to do to be successful.”

The pitching staff was led by senior Mike MacDonald of Camden and sophomore Troy Martin. MacDonald (2-0) pitched a six-hitter in Saturday’s first game, while Martin fired a four-hit shutout in Sunday’s second game.

Martin has now pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings dating back to the fifth inning of his first start against Cortland State on March 12.

“He has thrown really well the last three times out,” Kostacopoulos said. “He’s on a roll of 12 or 13 innings without giving up a run and he really overcame some lousy defense in the first part of [Sunday’s] game.”

The game against Husson College of Bangor originally scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until a later date.

UM softball offense heats up

The lack of offensive numbers put up by the UMaine softball team was a surprise, Black Bears coach Deb Smith said last week. But the Bears looked sharp at the plate and on the bases over the weekend.

Maine picked up three wins in two days, including a doubleheader sweep of the University of Pennsylvania Saturday. The Bears (12-11) won the first game 4-3 in eight innings and took the second game 5-1.

Junior Jess Brady of Jackman, who leads the team with a .387 batting average, went 5-for-8 with three runs, one RBI, and two stolen bases in the two games. Brady doubled in the first game as Maine racked up five extra-base hits in the two wins.

Junior Lauren Dulkis was 4-for-6 in the two games and has a .328 batting average, the second-highest of the regular players. Sophomore Molly McKinney (.150) hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning to boost the Bears in the first game.

Senior pitcher Candace Jaegge picked up the win in the first game and improved to 7-3. Sophomore Sarah Bennis of Pownal won the second game and goes to 2-6. The record isn’t good to look at, but Bennis’ 1.64 ERA leads the team.

Jaegge, Bennis, and junior Jenna Merchant are all ranked in the America East Conference’s top 10 for ERA.

The Bears head to Amherst, Mass., Thursday for a doubleheader against Massachusetts.

Sinclair breaks USM record

University of Southern Maine junior Kristen Sinclair of Manchester set a school record in the javelin throw Saturday at the Spring Fling Invitational in Clermont, Fla.

Sinclair led a one-two USM finish in the event with a throw of 140 feet, 8 inches, smashing her former school record of 130-7. The throw also earned Sinclair a provisional qualification for the NCAA Division III national championship meet in May. She is just 21 inches short of meeting the NCAA automatic qualifier.

USM freshman Jillian Kovacevic finished second in the javelin at 124-11.