Paul Kostacopoulos realizes baseball is much too fickle a game to be able to take much for granted.

That said, he and the University of Maine have come to expect great things out of junior righthanders Mike MacDonald and Mike Collar on a weekly basis.

Kostacopoulos hopes what he referred to as “The Mike & Mike Show” will be a big hit again tonight when the Black Bears entertain America East rival Northeastern in a 4 p.m. doubleheader at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.

UMaine makes its home debut without the benefit of having even practiced on the still-soggy turf. As usual, the Bears played their first 28 games outside Maine and they’re anxious to take advantage of some of the benefits of playing at home.

The efforts of Collar and MacDonald will help set the tone for how the Bears fare in this important series.

“It’s an old story line, but it’s so important. Mike and Mike continue to be dominant type pitchers,” Kostacopoulos said.

MacDonald, the 2002 America East Pitcher of the Year, is off to a 4-2 start with a 2.88 earned run average. Collar, the league’s top rookie in 2001, sports a 4-2 mark with a 3.48 ERA.

Among the duo’s most impressive numbers are their strikeouts-to-walks ratios. Scarborough’s Collar leads the conference with 50 strikeouts and has walked only four.

MacDonald, from Camden, is right behind, having fanned 45 while walking only six.

“Add those together and that’s 95 strikeouts and 10 walks. Those are scary college numbers,” Kostacopoulos said.

UMaine likely will need MacDonald and Collar to be sharp once again as Northeastern also features a strong pitching staff. The Bears and the Huskies have developed one of the most intense rivalries among America East teams during the last several years.

“We’ve had a lot of good baseball games with Northeastern the last few years,” Kostacopoulos said.

Freshman righty Greg Norton of South Portland is expected Saturday to get his first Mahaney Diamond start in the first game, while Kostacopoulos likely will make a game-time decision in the other contest.

With a largely youthful corps of pitchers behind them, Collar and MacDonald once again this season are facing the pressure of having to perform well every time out.

“We go into the weekend with what we have always thought was a great weapon, both of them together.”