ORONO – The University of Maine baseball team’s success and the spectre of eliminating athletic programs have garnered much of the attention on the campus athletics scene recently.

Meanwhile, the Black Bear football team has been making frequent forays onto the AstroTurf of Morse Field at Alfond Stadium for its spring workouts.

UMaine has spent the last month searching for something, an important intangible quality that will help determine how well the team fares in the fall. The Bears will try to demonstrate the progress it has made during today’s 7 p.m. Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage at Alfond Stadium.

“The thing we look for is to establish an identity and a personality,” said coach Jack Cosgrove. “That’s the most important thing you get out of the spring.”

That team identity is usually derived from the leadership of the captains and upperclassmen, whose efforts on the field, in the weight room, and in the community set the tone for the program.

“It’s something that takes place year to year,” Cosgrove said. “One of the reasons for our success last season was the great chemistry.”

Of course, the Bears also must make some more tangible gains on the field. Replacing players lost to graduation and attrition is a key element of spring workouts.

“We think we have good football players and we can replace the statistics we lose from the seniors who depart with the players that replace them,” Cosgrove said.

UMaine’s spring has been a bit tougher than usual, as the coaching staff has been operating shorthanded. Two assistant positions have not been filled because of the budget constraints in the athletic department.

“We have phenomenal people,” Cosgrove said. “We were stretched a lot and it’s been a challenge, but [the task] has been accomplished.”

Offensive coordinator Bobby Wilder and defensive coordinator Rich Nagy each took on additional responsibility to help fill the voids this spring, while assistant Jeff Comissiong is now coaching the defensive line after handling running backs last season.

The job openings have been posted and Cosgrove hopes to fill the positions as soon as possible.

UMaine baseball on the run

The UMaine baseball team is speeding into its last two weekends of America East play. One of the aspects that has helped Coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ Black Bears post a 32-12 record is its speed and aggressiveness on the basepaths.

The Bears are on a pace to eclipse the school’s single-season stolen base record of 103 set in 1991. UMaine stole four Wednesday at Colby, pushing its season total to 90.

That’s the most since the 1994 team registered 84 in 110 attempts. And it’s a significant increase over last year’s total of 53.

“We made a commitment to steal more, to run more,” Kostacopoulos said. “We have some team speed and we just practiced more, worked on reading pitchers and getting bigger leads.”

Leading the way on the basepaths is sophomore left fielder Simon Williams of Portland. Williams has 21 steals in 23 attempts in 2002 and is 31-for-33 overall.

Senior right fielder Mike Ross, who had only 10 stolen bases in his first three years, is 17-for-21. Junior center fielder Mike Livulpi has 15 steals in 16 tries this season.

Kostacopoulos has given some of his top base stealers the green light in many instances, which has led to a more aggressive approach. And with fast guys out in front, that can mean 2-for-1 success.

“When you steal a lot of bases, you get the back-side benefit of it,” Kostacopoulos said. “With guys at first and second, that’s like getting two bases with one chance.”

The Bears have five players who have stolen at least 10 bases. It’s the first time that has happened since the record-setting ’91 campaign. Junior catcher Alain Picard is 12-for-15 and junior outfielder Aaron Young of Augusta is 10-for-11 on the bases this spring.

UMaine has put its speed to good use, keeping the pressure on opponents by stealing frequently and utilizing the hit-and-run.