Black Bear Softball Beats Bryant Bulldogs

North Smithfield, RI- Maine was matched up against Bryant University Saturday afternoon and won both of the games they played. The first game resulted in a Maine victory 12-7 and the second was a win 6-0.

Terren Hall from Bucksport, ME was the player of the game with four runs, five RBI, and a home run. In the top of the first inning Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass.) got to second base on an error, later moving to third on an Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H.) single. Terren Hall quickly walked, giving the Black Bears the bases loaded with two outs. Kristen Calvetti (Milford, N.H.) hit a one-run single that gave Maine an early 1-0 advantage. After this first inning, things just kept getting better for the Black Bears.

Souhlaris started on the mound for the Black Bears and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Brynat hit a double into right field. She pitched seven shutout innings, allowed just four hits and struck out two. Souhlaris improves to 6-3 with the win.


Maine will travel to Baltimore, Md. next weekend for a double-header with UMBC on Saturday, March 28, starting at 1 p.m.

Shawn Bodtmann Newest Addition to Football Team

Orono, ME-Coach Jack Cosgrove announced last week that the Black Bears will be welcoming a new linebacker this coming football season. Shawn Bodtmann is a 5-11 205 pound athlete from West Scranton HS in Pennsylvania. He is a National Honor student and an amazing athlete being named 18th in his state this past football season.

In high school, Bodtmann played linebacker, safety and running back for coach Michael DeAntona. Bodtmann helped lead his team to a pair of district championships during his football career. He had an outstanding junior season as he rushed for over 1,000 yards and 22 touchdowns. His accomplishments weren't limited to just offense, as he was also a standout on the defensive side of the field. Bodtmann recorded over 100 combined tackles, four sacks and four interceptions. He was rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com in January 2009.

The Black Bears are excited and anxious to welcome their new team member next smester. Coach Cosgrove said, "He has demonstrated the characteristics of the type of student-athlete we want representing our program. He is a winner in the classroom, on the field and in his community. We expect him to have a huge impact on our program." Bodtmann is the player to watch!

Maine Baseball Dominates Sacred Heart

Orono,ME-This past Sunday afternoon the Black Bears won twice against Sacred Heart in a double-header. The first game Maine won 11-2 and the second game Maine won 5-3. Maine's new record for this season is 12-9. In the first game Matt Jebb(Toronto, Ontario) went six innings for the Black Bears on the mound and allowed two runs on six hits. He struck out two batters. He improves to 3-0 on the season. Jonatha n Balentina (Willemstad, Curacao) pitched the final three inning to earn his first save of the season. He allowed three hits. In the second game Sacred Heart took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Paul Schmidt walked, Olszyk was hit-by-a-pitch and Frank Bainer drew a walk to load the bases. Schmidt scored on a wild pitch. The UMaine Black Bears have their next game on Friday, March 27 when they travel to Wagner for the first game of a four-game series. The game is scheduled for 3 pm.

Cheering Nationals

Orono,ME-The Umaine cheering squad is competing in the NCA national collegiate cheerleading competition on april 9th in Daytona Beach, Florida. There is just one problem--they still need to raise about $1500 more. The student government gave them about $4000 less than last year and with the weak economy, fundraisers did not go well at all this year because less and less people are willing to donate. Last week, the cheerleaders met in the call center in the basement of the Alumni house and called former cheerleaders in hopes that they would donate money via check, credit card, money order, or cash. It is unknown how much money was raised during this event because they are awaiting arrival of money in the mail. Beginning this past summer, the cheerleaders took part in multiple fundraisers including a golf tournament, car wash, football game raffles, jewelry orders, fashion shows, youth cheer day, pass the megaphone at hockey games, along with a required $200 in sponsor money from businesses each cheerleader is required to get. Sadly, because the cheering team is considered a "club" and not a sport at Maine, there is close to no funding from the school to help them in their endeauvers. The cheering team needed to raise $30,000 to compete in Daytona this year. Because of the price of fuel and other things that went up, plane tickets, bus services, and even hotal rooms have gotten more and more expensive since last year. It's interesting because although the cheerign squad isn't technically an officially recognized sport at Maine, we are held to the same standards as other athletes like codes of conduct, GPA standards, and we are required to be at every mens and womens basketball game as well as football game. If you didn't already know, the UMaine cheering squad is amazing and we are competing this year in the D1 small coad division. We are up against really large schools like Lousiville and the Univeristy of Colorado, Boulder. Last year we placed 14th in our division but this year, we plan to place in the top ten at least. The cheerleaders are different from other athletes in that we appreciate every little thing we are given because we work our tails off all year long raising money just for the opprotunity to perform a 2 and a half minute routine in front of thousands of people and proudly represent our school with more spirit than anyone can even imagine. When we run out ont0 that floor chanting "BLACK BEARS", all of the hard work we put in really pays off.