ORONO – There’s no place like home.

The University of Maine baseball team ended its grueling stretch of 29 road games Tuesday night with a non-conference game against Division III Bowdoin College of Brunswick.

The Black Bears celebrated their homecoming with a 12-2 victory at Mahaney Diamond, which was in surprisingly good shape thanks to the efforts of Matt Felker and the UMaine athletic grounds crew.

Senior Jon Hambelton smashed two home runs and a double good for three RBIs, highlighting a 14-hit attack for 21-9 UMaine. Classmate Kris Ehmke (4-1) spread out nine hits over seven innings.

The Polar Bears fell to 11-9.

The Black Bears relished the opportunity to get out on their home field.

“It’s nice to be home. You can’t ask for a better atmosphere than this,” Hambelton said. “All those Florida games, they’re nice, but nothing beats playing at home.

“You feel more relaxed, more comfortable as a team,” he continued. “We have more time to do things. It’s big for us.”

Hambelton appeared plenty relaxed, launching a towering solo home run to right field to lead off the second inning. He then lined a two-run shot in the third and provided a double in the fifth.

Matt Reynolds (two RBIs) and Pat Tobin (RBI) each stroked a double and a single for UMaine, while Aaron Young of Augusta singled twice and scored three times.

“The infield’s actually not too bad at all. The outfield’s kind of rough and the ball’s all over the place, but it’s real good to get out there, finally,” Young said. “We’ve been trying to get the most of what we can indoors, but it’s just not the same as being outside getting live reads.”

Ehmke, who figures to be a part of the Black Bears’ pitching plans down the stretch in America East play, had a steady outing. He kept things under control.

“Kris threw well,” Kostacopoulos said. “The hit amount that they had tonight was very deceptive. They hit about four balls hard.

“If we’re going to win down the stretch, we’re going to need him; getting guys out.”

Joe Nicastro singled three times to pace the Polar Bears. Kevin Bougie and Manny Lora rapped two singles each.

UMaine broke a 2-2 tie in the third, taking the lead for good. Mike Livulpi beat out an infield single, then raced to third on a hit-and-run single to right by Young. After Young stole second, Drapeau grounded into a 5-2 fielder’s choice.

Young and Drapeau then executed a double steal, with Young scoring when catcher Chris Davidson’s low throw led to a rundown that enabled Young to score. Hambelton followed with a low, line-drive homer over the fence in right, making it 5-2.

UMaine gave itself some breathing room by scoring three times in the fifth. Reynolds lined a two-run double to left, scoring Hambelton (double) and Alain Picard (single). He later scored on Pat Tobin’s single to right.

“When you’re facing multiple people, every style’s a little different,” Kostacopoulos said. “The way they pitch is so different than what we see [in conference]. Some of that stuff is hard to adjust to,” he said of the high number of off-speed pitches thrown by Bowdoin.

The Bears tacked on an unearned run in the sixth. Young beat out a pretty bunt single down the third-base line and advanced when the throw by pitcher Andy Workman sailed wide of first. Young then stole third and scored when the catcher’s throw bounced into left field.

Mark Reichley’s sacrifice fly made it 10-2 in the seventh and Joe Drapeau pounded an RBI double during UMaine’s two-run eighth.

Bowdoin scored two unearned runs in the second inning. Greg Lovely reached on a fielding error by third baseman Drapeau and Workman beat out a swinging bunt single toward third. Two outs later, Davidson delivered a run with a single to right.

UMaine equalized in the home half of the inning as Hambelton and Ross belted solo home runs.

Black Bears 12, Polar Bears 2

Bowdoin (11-9) Maine (21-9)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Metzler, cf 3 0 1 0 Livulpi, cf 4 0 0

Jamieson, 1b 1 0 0 0 Williams, rf 1 0 0

Lora, lf 5 0 2 0 Young, rf-cf 3 3 0

Bougie, 3b-ss 4 0 2 0 Drapeau, 3b 5 1

Lovely, ss 4 1 0 0 Hambelton, 1b 5 3 3

King, 3b-2b 0 0 0 0 Saunders 0 0 0

Workman, 1b-p 4 1 1 0 Picard, dh 2 0

Nicastro, 2b 3 0 3 1 Carlton, dh-1b 2 0 1

Hernandez, p 0 0 0 0 Ross, lf 3 1 1

Paradis, rf 4 0 0 0 Genest, lf 1 1 0

Davidson, c 3 0 1 1 Reynolds, 2b 5 1 2

Hafler, c 1 0 0 0 Tobin, c 3 0 1

DeMarco, dh 1 0 0 0 Reichley, ss 2 0 1

McLeod, 1b-cf 2 0 0 0

Totals 35 2 10 2 Totals 36 12 14 10

Bowdoin 020 000 000 ? 2 10 4

Maine 023 031 12x ? 12 14 2

E?Jamieson, Workman, Davidson 2; Drapeau, Ehmke; LOB?Bowdoin 9; Maine 7; 2B?Metzler; Drapeau, Hambelton, Reynolds; HR?Hambelton 2 (9), Ross (4); DP?Reynolds-Hambelton, Ehmke-Reichley-Hambelton; SF?Reichleyh; SB?Young 3 (9), Drapeau (1)

Bowdoin IP H R ER BB SO

Ridlon 2 2 2 2 1 4

Dube (L,3-3) 1 3 3 3 0 0

Lucuk 1 1 0 0 1 0

Workman 3 7 5 5 1 2

Hernandez 1 1 2 2 1 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Ehmke (W,4-1) 7 9 2 0 1 4

Foley 1 1 0 0 0 2

Labelle 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP?DeMarco, Metzler by Ehmke; Picard by Dube, Young by Lucuk; BK?Workman; WP?Dube; Ehmke; PB?Hafler; T?2:31; ATT?200