ORONO – Freshman pitchers often have to wait patiently for the right opportunity to showcase their ability.

University of Maine lefthander Mitch Clegg took advantage of such a chance under challenging conditions Tuesday night at Mahaney Diamond.

Clegg entered the game on the heels of a 97-minute rain delay and shook off a frigid, windy night to work six shutout innings of relief and help the Black Bears take an 11-4 baseball victory over Colby College of Waterville.

“Mitch did a great job throwing strikes,” said UMaine coach Steve Trimper, who awarded Clegg the T-shirt given to the team MVP after a win. “I tell these guys all the time, everybody’s going to get their day in the sun to shine.”

Despite darkness and cold, the freshman from Woburn, Mass., allowed only four hits and struck out eight without issuing a walk. He displayed a good fastball and a sharp slider with an occasional changeup.

“It was basically just a matter of getting confidence,” said Clegg (1-0). “It’s a lot different from high school and you can’t expect too much coming in as a freshman. You’ve just got to take the opportunities they give you and work with them.”

Clegg’s performance enabled UMaine (23-11-1) to extend a tenuous early lead without having to deal with many distractions under harsh conditions.

After steady rain forced a delay of one hour, 37 minutes, a cold wind whipped out of the northwest and temperatures dipped into the low 40s, putting the wind chill near 32 degrees.

“That was by far the coldest I’ve ever been on a baseball field,” said UMaine junior catcher Matt McGraw, who knocked in three runs with a double and a single. “The wind was in my face the whole time.”

Once thawed out, the Bears should take momentum into today’s 5 p.m. nonleague game against Holy Cross in Sanford.

UMaine won with a record-setting performance on the basepaths. The Bears stole nine bases against Division III Colby (8-17), eclipsing the previous single-game mark of eight last achieved against Pace in 1999.

Senior Joe Hough set the tone, tying a school record with three steals. He also scored three times. McGraw, Curt Smith and Danny Menendez stole two bases apiece.

“It was close early on, so we had to do that [steal bases] to win the ballgame,” said Hough, who suffered through the cold in short sleeves.

“It was ridiculous. It was probably one of the worst days I’ve ever played,” he said.

UMaine also tied the school single-season record for triples (23) when Ryan Quintal laced a three-bagger to center field in the eighth inning.

The Bears erased a 2-1 deficit with four runs in the second inning on the heels of the delay. Two walks and two errors plated a run, then McGraw rapped a two-run single.

Colby reached starter John Tesseyman for five hits and two runs in the third, but the Bears tallied single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth and added three in the eighth to pull away.

Smith, who has reached base 15 of his last 20 plate appearances, had an RBI single in the eighth. He walked three times.

McGraw also doubled for UMaine, with Hough posting two singles and Menendez a double and a single.

Tom Salemy and Roddy Ames doubled and singled to lead the White Mules.

BLACK BEARS 11, WHITE MULES 4

Colby (8-17) Maine (23-11-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Vacca, cf/p 4 0 0 0 Hough, cf 3 3 1

Tourek, ph 1 0 0 0 McGraw, c 3 0 3

Salemy, 2b 5 1 2 0 Barrett, 1b 4 0 1

Carr, 3b 5 1 1 1 Quintal, lf 5 1 0

Ames, 1b 5 1 2 0 Smith, ss 2 2 1

Hales, rf/cf 4 1 2 0 McAvoy, 3b 2 1 1

Liberty, rf 1 0 0 0 Hackett, 3b 0 1 0

Riggs, dh 3 0 1 0 Brown, dh 4 1 1

Murphy, dh 1 0 0 0 Menendez, 2b 3 2 0

Cooper, ss 4 0 1 2 Cather, rf 2 0 0

Ortiz, lf 4 0 1 0 Ostrander, rf 2 0 1

Sandak, c 3 0 0 0

Henry, c 0 0 0 0

Curatolo, c 0 0 0 0

Totals 40 4 10 3 Totals 30 11 10 9

Colby 022 000 000 – 4

Maine 140 111 03x – 11

E-Carr (13), Sandak 3 (6), Starr (1); McGraw (1), Barrett (2), Smith (16), Menendez (5); LOB-Colby 10, Maine 10; 2B-Salemy, Ames, Ortiz; McGraw, Menendez; 3B-Quintal; DP-Hales-Cooper-Ames; SF-Barrett, Brown, Ostrander; SB-Salemy (9), Cooper (5), Henry (1); Hough 3 (15), McGraw 2 (10), Smith 2 (12), Menendez 2 (6)

Colby IP H R ER BB SO

Whelan (L,0-4) 2 4 5 3 2 2

Clark 1 0 0 0 2 1

Helm 2/3 0 1 0 4 0

Brady 1 1/3 1 1 0 1 2

Starr 2/3 2 1 0 1 0

Kennedy-Smith 1/3 0 0 0 0 1

Vacca 1 0 0 0 1 0

Rosenbaum 1 3 3 2 1 0

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Tesseyman 3 6 4 2 0 3

Clegg (W,1-0) 6 4 0 0 0 8

HBP-Henry (by Clegg); WP-Rosenbaum, Whelan, Kennedy-Smith; PB-Sandak 2, Curatolo