ORONO – There was no quit in the University of Maine baseball team Friday night.

Despite losing the first game of their America East doubleheader against Vermont and falling behind 7-2 in the nightcap, the Black Bears came roaring back.

Brett Ouellette’s solo home run to lead off the sixth inning of the second game provided the winning margin as UMaine rallied for an 8-7 victory at Mahaney Diamond.

Vermont (31-11, 16-4 America East), which won the opener 5-3, can still clinch the regular-season title and the top seed for next week’s tournament with one win in today’s 3 p.m. doubleheader. The Black Bears (36-15, 16-6 AE) need a sweep for those benefits.

“You’ve just got to stay mentally tough, because you never know when you’re going to get that opportunity to get back in the game,” said UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos. “If you’re still battling, you’ve got a chance to win in college.”

In the nightcap, the Bears scored five runs in the fifth inning to tie it, then won it when Ouellette lined a homer to right, his 10th of the year, off reliever Justin Bissonnette (4-2).

“That’s been one of strengths all year, we capitalize when we have to,” Ouellette said. “The two guys that were throwing today, they were great pitchers and you’ve got to get them when you can.”

The Bears broke loose for five runs in the fifth, chasing starter Brian Robinson of Cape Elizabeth. Joe Hough spanked a leadoff single to left, then Ouellette and Alain Picard walked. Robinson gave way to Bissonnette, who surrendered Drapeau’s two-run double to left-center.

One out later, Justin Houser provided an RBI groundout. Jesse Carlton walked, Bissonnette balked in a run and, after Steve Gambale walked, Simon Williams grounded a game-tying RBI single to left.

“You need people to have good at-bats and that’s what we did,” Drapeau said. “We put it together and squeaked one out.”

Drapeau paced UMaine with the double and a solo homer in the second. It was his 10th home run of the season and the 49th of his career, leaving him three shy of the school record. Ouellette also rapped an RBI single in the third.

Senior Adam Labelle (3-3) earned the win with three innings of two-run relief, including six strikeouts.

“We just needed something to get ourselves going and we got that,” Labelle said of the fifth inning. “And Brett Ouellette got that clutch home run and it sparked us up.”

UVM took a 1-0 lead on Bobby Tewksbary’s leadoff homer to right. Jeff Barry followed with an infield single and scored from first on a throwing error by starter Mike MacDonald.

The Bears tied it in the third on a run-scoring single by Ouellette.

The Catamounts responded with three in the fourth with the help of an error. Barry executed a squeeze bunt, while Kyle Brault and Jason Carey delivered RBI singles to left, making it 5-2. UVM added two in the fifth on RBI singles by Tewksbary and Barry.

In the opener, league ERA leader Jamie Merchant (7-1) pitched a four-hitter for the Cats. The senior righthander struck out 10 and did not walk a batter while overcoming four errors.

“He’s the best pitcher we’ve seen all year,” Kostacopoulos said. “He was 88-92 [mph] and he had a hammer for a breaking ball that he threw for a strike.”

Merchant, who entered the game with a 1.62 ERA, exhibited a nice assortment of pitches and kept the Bears off-balance.

Merchant was the beneficiary of two home runs by Barry Chamberland, who belted a solo shot in the first and a two-run blast in the sixth.

UMaine took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Williams delivered Aaron Izaryk (infield hit) with a sacrifice fly. Vermont tallied three in the sixth off Mike Collar of Scarborough (7-3), then added an insurance run in the seventh.

Picard launched a solo homer in the first, then UMaine answered UVM’s unearned run in the fourth with one of its own in the inning.

CATAMOUNTS 5, BLACK BEARS 3

(Friday’s First Game)

Vermont (31-10) Maine (35-15)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Tewksbury, ss 4 0 0 0 Williams, rf 2 1

Barry, cf 3 1 1 0 Ouellette, 2b 3 1 0

Chamberland, 1b 2 3 2 3 Picard, dh 3 1

Iannoni, 3b 3 0 0 0 Drapeau, 3b 3 0 0

Brault, dh 2 0 1 0 Creek, 1b 3 0 0

Carey, rf 2 0 0 1 Ferriggi, ss 2 0 0

Ekelund, lf 3 1 1 0 Gambale, ss 0 0 0

Roberts, c 2 0 0 0 a-Hough 1 0 0 0

Geoffrey, 2b 3 0 1 1 Izaryk, c 3 1 0

Quintal, lf 3 0 1 0

Livulpi, cf 2 0 0 0

Totals 24 5 6 5 Totals 25 3 4 2

a-struck out for Gambale in seventh

Vermont 100 102 1 ? 5

Maine 100 110 0 ? 3

E?Chamberland, Iannoni; Merchant 2, Ferriggi; LOB?Vermont 2, Maine 2; HR?Chamberland 2 (11); Picard (6); S?Roberts; SF?Carey, Williams; SB? Carey

Vermont IP H R ER BB SO

Merchant (W,7-1) 7 4 3 1 0 10

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Collar (L,7-3) 7 6 5 4 2 7

WP?Collar; T?1:48

BLACK BEARS 8, CATAMOUNTS 7

(Friday’s Second Game)

Vermont (31-11) Maine (36-15)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Tewksbary, ss 4 2 2 2 Williams, cf-rf 3 1

Barry, cf 2 1 2 2 Hough, rf 3 1 0

Chamberland, 1b 3 1 0 0 Livulpi, cf 0 0

Brault, dh 3 0 1 1 Ouellette, 2b 3 2 2

Carey, rf 4 0 1 1 Picard, dh 2 1 0

Root, rf 0 0 0 0 Drapeau, 3b 3 2 3

Iannoni, 3b 2 0 0 0 Izaryk, c 4 0 0

Ekelund, lf 4 0 0 0 Houser, lf 3 0 1

Roberts, c 2 0 1 0 Saunders, lf 0 0 0

a-Folley 0 1 0 0 Carlton, 1b 2 1 0

Naimoli, c 2 0 1 0 Gambale, ss 2 1 0

Geoffrey, 2b 3 2 1 0

Totals 29 7 9 6 Totals 25 8 8 7

a-ran for Roberts in fourth

Vermont 200 320 0 ? 7

Maine 011 051 x ? 8

E?MacDonald 2; LOB?Vermont 9, Maine 7; 2B?Drapeau; HR?Tewksbary, Ouellette, Drapeau; DP?Maine 1; SB?Tewksbary, Barry 2, Geoffrey

Vermont IP H R ER BB SO

Robinson 4 5 5 5 4 6

Bissonnette (L, 4-2) 1 3 3 3 2 1

Dobens 1 0 0 0 0 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

MacDonald 4 6 5 1 4 5

Labelle (W, 3-3) 3 3 2 2 1 6

HBP?Williams by Robinson, Drapeau by Robinson, Chamberland by MacDonald; WP?MacDonald; BK?Bissonnette; PB?Izaryk; T?2:38; ATT?418