ORONO — It’s difficult to sustain success in baseball without strong starting pitching.

Maine has been fighting an uphill battle in that regard all season, relying on a strong bullpen and timely hitting to scratch out victories.

On Sunday, the home crowd finally got to see it for themselves. The Black Bears fell behind in the first inning in both games of a doubleheader against Albany, rallying to win the first game before falling short in the nightcap and settling for a split before an announced crowd of 470 at Mahaney Diamond.

“I’m not concerned,” Maine Coach Steve Trimper said. “I think we have above-average (America East) conference pitching. Everybody basically goes out and runs out stock righties, which are all 86 to 88 (mph), and if you throw strikes you’re going to be in games. And that’s what we have.”

Maine (9-15, 1-2 America East) won the first game 4-3 after starter Jake Marks gave up two runs in the first inning and lasted only 4-1/3. Freshman Justin Courtney of Bangor came on in relief for the first time after making five starts and earned his first collegiate victory in front of a large contingent of friends and family.

He yielded only one run in 3-2/3 innings while striking out three batters, calling it his best performance of the season.

“Out of the bullpen, you can kind of blow off some steam at the beginning and really show off the fastball and kind of work off of that,” Courtney said after reaching 91 mph with that pitch.

“I knew I had to get Marks out of a big spot (two runners on) and I did. He pitched well, just ran into a little trouble with pitch count. So I kind of snaked the win from him. He’s not too happy about that. He’s giving it to me. But it’s all in good fun.

“Home opener in front of all my friends and family, really, and getting my first win. It’s great.”

Courtney is now 1-4 with a 4.73 ERA. Marks, still seeking his first win, lowered his ERA to 8.28.

The Black Bears scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, with the big blow being a double to right field by Brett Chappell for his team-leading 21st RBI. Scott Heath’s single had tied the score 2-2 when Chappell drove a Brendan Ryan fastball to the base of the fence.

“I knew I hit it well enough. It happened to work out good for me,” Chappell said. “But at the same time, Scott gave me the chance to drive in the run, because my job’s easy, just hit the ball in the outfield and at least get a sacrifice fly.”

Charlie Butler pitched the ninth inning and earned his fourth save.

In the nightcap, Maine starter Jeff Gelinas failed to get out of the third inning. He gave up three runs in the first and was charged with two more in the third when he was removed with the bases loaded. Adam Mund hit a two-run double off Black Bears reliever Logan Fullmer, who went on to retire the next 16 batters he faced.

Maine got a two-run home run from Heath and eventually tied the score 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth when Kevin Stypulkowski doubled home Chappell. But Brenden Geary tried to score from first base on the hit and was thrown out at the plate by 10 feet.

Maine never scored again. Albany (5-8, 1-1) scored four runs off Butler in the top of the 10th to take a 9-5 victory.

The Black Bears were left to lament wasted opportunities. They drew 16 walks and stranded 14 base runners.

“I thought we played well. We outshined them,” Trimper said. “We just didn’t get the big hit we needed to win an extra-inning game.”

The series finale, scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Mahaney Diamond, was canceled due to rain in the forecast. The Black Bears will host Stony Brook on Friday and Saturday.