The University of Maine softball team will play its home opener this weekend in Orono, but the Black Bears may not actually play on Kessock Field. Instead, Maine is scheduled to play a doubleheader against Merrimack – inside the new Mahaney Dome.

“Having the Dome is great because we can do that kind of thing,” said first-year coach Stacey Sullivan, who was hired away from Merrimack last summer. “But it’s supposed to be gorgeous on Saturday so we very well may be outside.”

The games will be played Saturday afternoon at 1 and 3 and admission is free regardless of where the games are held.

Sullivan said the rules in the Dome will try to best replicate a game outdoors.

Balls that hit the ceiling immediately above the infield will be automatic outs while those that hit the ceiling in foul territory will be considered foul balls. The ceiling is 55 feet at its highest, according to the UMaine Web site.

The facility is 200 x 200 feet. Balls that hit the Dome’s wall will be deemed either home runs or ground-rule doubles depending on where they are hit.

The Black Bears were originally scheduled to play in a tournament at Stony Brook, in New York this weekend, but cancelled their appearance two months ago when their schedule appeared loaded with games.

Maine played 27 games in an 18-day stretch on recent road trips through Tennessee and Florida. Playing in the Stony Brook tourney would have meant five more games and two trips to New York in a week. The Bears are scheduled to open their conference season next weekend at Stony Brook.

“It just wasn’t conducive to what we wanted to do,” Sullivan said. “Looking back two months ago when we changed [the schedule] we thought the team would need the rest, and we’re very glad we changed it.”

Maine tried to get a Division I opponent, Sullivan added, but most teams were already locked up. With Sullivan’s Merrimack connections, bringing the Warriors to Orono was an easy decision. Both schools have agreed to count the games in their regular-season records.

Merrimack’s roster includes former Eastern Maine high school standouts Jill Richards of Bucksport and Clarice Pepper of Messalonskee in Oakland.

The Black Bears wrapped up their southern swing with a 16-11 record for one of the program’s best-ever starts.

Among the Bears’ top performers so far have been pitcher Sarah Bennis, shortstop Brittany Cheney, designated hitter Amy Kuhl, third baseman Tara Vilardo, and outfielders Erin Provost and Molly McKinney.

Bennis already has an 11-3 record with 88 strikeouts in 89 innings pitched to go with a 2.12 ERA. Sullivan said Bennis won’t start either game this weekend, leaving the pitching duties to Courtney Gingrich, who has thrown just 6 2/3 innings this year, and Jenna Balent, who is 5-8 with a 2.42 ERA. Gingrich will throw the opener while Balent will start the nightcap.

Five regular starters are batting better than .270. Vilardo, who has played mostly in pinch-running spots over the years, is batting .310 with 10 stolen bases. As expected, Cheney is leading the team in batting average (.342), RBIs (19) home runs (3) and stolen bases (11).

“We’re happy but we’re not satisfied,” Sullivan said. “We have a lot of loose ends we have to tie up before we start conference games.”

Smith UM defensive coordinator

University of Maine football coach Jack Cosgrove solidified two positions on his coaching staff Thursday with the promotion of Robb Smith and the hiring of Dwayne Wilmot.

Robb Smith, who has spent the last four seasons on the UMaine staff, has been promoted to defensive coordinator.

Smith replaces mentor Rich Nagy, who resigned in December to take the defensive coordinator post at Murray State (Ky.). Last season, Smith was the Black Bears’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach.

“Robb has a veteran presence on our staff and has a great working knowledge of our defense and personnel,” Cosgrove said.

UMaine also announced Thursday the hiring of former Bears wide receiver Wilmot as the defensive line coach. He spent the last two years as the recruiting coordinator at Tennessee-Martin under head coach Matt Griffin, a former UMaine assistant coach.

“It’s always great to have former players return to coach on our staff and I’m thrilled that Dwayne is here,” Cosgrove said. “He has a tremendous working knowledge about the University of Maine and will be a great ambassador for our program.”

While UMaine’s offensive staff remains intact, the Bears also recently lost defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Jeff Comissiong, a UMaine grad who has assumed similar duties at Harvard.

Smith has been selected to direct a defense which he has helped mold during his time in Orono. The 1997 Allegheny College graduate spent 1998 as an assistant at Fordham under Nagy, then from 1999-2001 was a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, where he earned a master’s degree in communications in 2002.

Smith then hooked on as a defensive backs coach at UMaine in 2002.

Wilmot coached a variety of positions at UT-Martin, including outside linebackers, defensive backs and wide receivers.

The 2001 UMaine graduate ranks in the top 10 in school history with 169 pass receptions and 1,981 receiving yards. He played for Charleston in Arena Football 2 in 2002.