ORONO – The official attendance number for the University of Maine baseball team’s home opener Tuesday evening against Colby was 448. That number dropped as the game wore on, but the Black Bears can take the fans’ early exit as a sort of compliment.

The temperatures dropped, Colby pitching got thinner, and thanks to a 10-run fifth inning, there was no question that the Bears were firmly in control against the Division-III rival White Mules of Waterville.

Maine racked up 20 hits, including seven extra-base hits, to roll to a 20-2 win at Mahaney Diamond.

It was the ninth straight win for the Black Bears and marks the longest winning streak since the 1993 team won 10 in a row. Maine, now 20-7, will have a chance to equal that streak at 4 p.m. today when the Bears face Husson College of Bangor. The game will be played in Orono.

While UMaine was on the road fans could only hear or read about the Bears’ good fielding, solid pitching and at times explosive offense. Tuesday they got to see it, and Maine responded with a fine display.

But the Bears didn’t get too offensive until Mule starter Kevin Presbrey came out of the game. Presbrey pitched three innings, giving up six runs (five earned) and seven hits, but Maine junior Alain Picard said the Bears weren’t expecting Presbey’s split-finger fastball to be so tough.

“He kind of surprised us,” Picard said. “He wasn’t throwing hard but that splitty was pretty tough to hit. They took him out and put in another guy [Owen Kenney] who throws a lot straighter and that was a lot easier to hit. Once we saw him the ball just jumped off our bat and we started a running game, and that’s how we get things going.”

Indeed, Maine busted loose in the fifth thanks to a combination of offense, baserunning and White Mule errors. The Bears scored 10 runs on five hits – Aaron Young of Augusta’s three-run home run did the most damage – to take an 18-2 lead.

Maine freshman Scott Robinson picked up his second win of the year, going six innings and scattering six hits while striking out five. He had no walks.

Maine coach Paul Kostacopoulos said the starter stuck with his fast ball and changeup.

“We had a pitch count on him because he hasn’t thrown in a couple of weeks,” he said. “We thought if he could give us six [innings] that would be great. He did a good job. In the second he missed his spots a little, he left the ball up and they got a few hits in a row, but he settled back down.”

Colby had three of its seven hits and scored both of its runs in that inning. The Bears committing two errors.

Maine answered in the bottom of the second with a two-run double by Brett Ouellette and Picard’s fourth homer of the year.

The Mules certainly weren’t perfect on defense. They committed four errors which led to five unearned Bear runs.

“Tonight we did face a hot team, they hit the ball well, they pitched it, they outplayed us and got the win,” Colby coach Tom Dexter said. “But I think our guys can hold their heads up … unfortunately we didn’t make all the plays on defense. Against a team this good you can’t give up any extra outs. We had four errors and that gave them some extra runs.”

Picard, who was 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs, extended his hitting streak to 22 games. Young, who was 4-for-5, had six RBIs.

Black Bears 20, White Mules 2

Colby (7-9) Maine (20-7)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Brunella, ss 4 0 0 0 Livulpi, cf 3 3 0

Simard, 3b 4 0 1 0 Saunders, lf 2 0 0

Lippert, 1b 4 0 0 0 Ouellette, 2b 4 3 3

Lord, lf 4 1 3 0 Picard, dh 3 3 4

Roy, c 3 1 2 0 b-Carlton 1 0 0

a-Saylor 1 0 0 0 Ross, rf 1 1 0

Lynch, c 0 0 0 0 Drapeau, 3b 3 0 0

Cummings, rf 3 0 1 1 Reynolds, 3b 3 2 0

Prinstein, rf 1 0 0 0 Williams, lf-rf 4 3

Cushman, 2b 2 0 0 0 Young, rf-cf 5 2 5

Domestico, 2b 2 0 0 0 Tobin, 1b 4 2

Johnson, dh 4 0 0 1 Creek, ph/1b 1 0 0

Civitello, cf 1 0 0 0 Izaryk, c 5 0

Ferriggi, ss 2 1 1 0

Reichley, ss 3 1 2 1

Totals 35 2 7 2 Totals 45 20 20 19

a-

Colby 020 000 000 ? 2 7 4

Maine 330 2(10)0 02x ? 20 20 3

E?Brunella 3, Irwin; Smith, Young, Robinson; LOB?Colby 6, Maine 9; 2B?Ouellette, Picard, Young, Reichley; 3B?Livulpi; HR?Picard (4), Young (2); DP?Maine 1; SF?Ouellette; SB?Williams 3, Young 2

Colby IP H R ER BB SO

Presbrey (L, 1-2) 3 7 6 5 1 3

Kenney 11/3 5 6 6 1 2

Geiger 2/3 2 6 2 2 1

Garrett 1 2 0 0 1 1

Deacon 2 4 2 2 1 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Robinson (W, 2-0) 6 6 2 1 0 5

Williams 1 0 0 0 0 3

Smith 2 1 0 0 0 1

HBP?by Geiger (Izaryk); WP?Presbrey 2, Geiger; T?2:40; ATT?440