BURLINGTON, Vt. – Postseason baseball is about getting clutch hits and making pressure plays.

Stony Brook did just that Friday night while eliminating the University of Maine from the America East Championship with a 6-3 victory at Centennial Field.

The No. 2 Black Bears close out the season at 38-18. The No. 3 Seawolves (32-20) advance to today’s 10 a.m. championship round against fourth-seeded and unbeaten Northeastern.

UMaine, which eliminated Vermont 6-1 in Friday’s first game, went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position against Stony Brook, which capitalized on its scoring chances.

“It all boils down to that. You need a couple of those hits. We didn’t kick it around; we didn’t throw it around; but we just didn’t take advantage of those guys in scoring position.”

The Seawolves had lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Northeastern in Friday’s second game, but bounced back in the nightcap, overcoming a 3-1 deficit.

“Obviously, you can see the resiliency and the character,” said Stony Brook coach Matt Senk. “We’ve been preaching a lot of toughness to win the tournament and clearly the guys displayed that.”

Bears starter Ryan Harris (4-3) was solid, spacing six hits in six innings. And though Stony Brook didn’t hammer Harris, he walked two and hit a batter. All three of those runners scored.

Stony Brook snaped a 3-3 tie with three runs in the sixth. Andrew Larsen (double, two singles, three runs scored) opened with a single to left, stole second and moved up on a flyout. David Wood walked before Cole Cicatelli grounded a run-scoring single to left.One out later, after a delayed double steal, Lee Lipschutz plated two runs with a single to left.

“They did a nice job of picking up those three runs with a couple clutch hits,” Kostacopoulos said.

The Seawolves came through, going 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position while gradually seizing the momentum.

“This game is so much about timely hitting and I think that speaks to my players’ character,” Senk said.

The Bears threatened in the eighth when Aaron Izaryk walked and Brett Ouellette singled, chasing starter Paul Carufe (3-1). But Kevin Fitzgerald came on and struck out Alain Picard and Joe Drapeau before inducing an inning-ending grounder to second.

Fitzgerald retired the side in the ninth for his third save.

Ryan Quintal socked a two-run home run and a single and Drapeau singled twice to lead the Bears, who did not make an error.

The Seawolves scored in the first on back-to-back doubles by Larsen and Matt Devins. UMaine tied it in the second as Quintal reached on an infield single and came all the way around to score on a subsequent throwing error.

UMaine failed to capitalize on a good scoring chance in the third when Steve Gambale led with a single and moved up on a wild pitch. Carufe struck out the next two batters, then overcame an error before getting the third out.

The Bears scored twice in the fourth when Drapeau ripped a single down the left-field line, then trotted home on Quintal’s shot to right. Still with nobody out, Carlton doubled but was left stranded.

Stony Brook got even in the bottom of the inning. Larsen drew a leadoff walk and took second when Harris hit Wood with a pitch. After a wild pitch, Cicatelli delivered a sacrifice fly and Mike Russo hit an RBI single to right.

In Friday’s opener, Mike Collar of Scarborough pitched eight innings of four-hit ball as UMaine stayed alive by beating Vermont.

Collar (8-3), a junior righty, was outstanding, mixing a fastball, changeup and slider. He struck out five, walked one and hit two batters.

“To tell you the truth, I think it’s my first playoff win of my life,” said a smiling Collar, who may be taken in the June major league draft. “It’s certainly a tough spot, but I think the team bounced back great.”

Collar was unflappable, working around four errors over a span of three innings, including two in the fifth.

“He doesn’t let those things [errors] get to him,” Kostacopoulos said. “He believes he can get out of those jams and that’s what he did.”

UMaine set the offensive tone in the second inning, getting all the runs it would need off lefty Derek Miller (4-4).

Drapeau reached on catcher’s interference, stole second, moved to third on Izaryk’s single to center, and scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Carlton. Mike Livulpi then yanked a two-run home run to right, making it 3-0.

“If we don’t get runs in early, we start pressing later in the game,” Carlton said. “So that was big to get a couple runs early just to let our hitters relax a little up there and swing the bat.”

Drapeau made it 4-0 when he cranked a high, solo homer to right leading off the fourth.

UVM scored its only run in the fifth with the aid of an error, but Collar battled.

UMaine added two runs in the sixth when Izaryk (3 singles) and Jason Houser singled, then raced home on Carlton’s line-drive double to the gap in left-center.

Adam Labelle pitched a scoreless ninth to end UVM’s season. Iannoni’s two singles paced UVM, which mustered only eight hits in two tournament games.

BLACK BEARS 6, CATAMOUNTS 1

(Friday Afternoon)

Vermont (33-13) Maine (38-17)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Tewksbary, ss 5 0 1 0 Williams, rf 4 0

Barry, cf 4 0 0 1 Ferriggi, ss 3 0 0

Chamberland, 1b 3 0 0 0 Gambale, ss 1 0

Brault, dh 3 0 0 0 Ouellette, 2b 4 0 0

Carey, rf 4 0 0 0 Picard, dh 4 0 0

Iannoni, 3b 3 0 2 0 Drapeau, 3b 3 2 1

Roberts, c 3 0 0 0 Izaryk, c 4 2 0

Naimoli, c 1 0 1 0 Hough, lf 4 1 0

Ekelund, lf 2 0 0 0 Carlton, 1b 3 0 3

a-Marsh 1 0 0 0 Livulpi, cf 3 1 2

Geoffrey, 2b 3 1 1 0

b-Folley 1 0 0 0

Totals 33 1 5 1 Totals 33 6 10 6

a-flied out for Ekelund in 9th; b-struck out for Geoffrey in 9th

Vermont 000 010 000 ? 1

Maine 030 102 00x ? 6

E?Roberts (8); Ferriggi 2 (6), Ouellette (8), Drapeau (14); LOB?Vermont 9, Maine 5; 2B?Picard, Carlton; HR?Drapeau (11), Livulpi (5); SF?Carlton; SB?Drapeau (4)

Vermont IP H R ER BB SO

Miller (L, 4-4) 5 1/3 8 6 3 0 3

Slater 1/3 1 0 0 0 0

Robinson 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 1

Dixon 1 0 0 0 0 1

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Collar (W, 8-4) 8 4 1 0 1 5

Labelle 1 1 0 0 0 1

HBP?Brault, Iannoni by Collar, Ekelund by Labelle; WP?Labelle; T?2:29

SEAWOLVES 6, BLACK BEARS 3

(Friday Night)

Maine (38-18) Stony Brook (32-20)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Livulpi, cf 4 0 0 0 McCurdy, 2b 4 0 0

Izaryk, c 3 0 0 0 Larsen, cf 3 3 0

Ouellette, 2b 4 0 1 0 Devins, ss 3 1

Picard, dh 4 0 0 0 Wood, 1b 2 2 0

Drapeau, 3b 4 1 2 0 Cicatelli, lf 2 1 2

Quintal, lf 4 2 2 2 Russo, dh 4 0 1

Carlton, 1b 4 0 1 0 Lipschutz, rf 3 0 2

Williams, rf 2 0 0 0 Renner, 3b 3 0 0

a-Tobin 1 0 0 0 Kull, c 3 0 0 0

Gambale, ss 2 0 1 0

Ferriggi, ss 2 0 0 0

Totals 34 3 7 2 Totals 27 6 8 6

Maine 010 200 000 ? 3

Stony Brook 100 203 00x ? 6

a-fouled out for Williams in the 9th

E?Devins, Renner; LOB?Maine 6, Stony Brook 3; 2B?Carlton, Larsen; Devins; HR?Quintal (5); DP?McCurdy-Devins-Wood; S?Devins; SF?Cicatelli; SB?Larsen, Wood, Cicatelli

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Harris (L, 4-3) 6 6 6 6 2 7

Creek 2 2 0 0 1 0

Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO

Carufe (W, 3-1) 7 7 3 2 2 6

Fitzgerald (S, 3) 2 0 0 0 0 3

Carufe faced two batters in the 8th

HBP? Wood by Harris; WP?Harris 2; Carufe; T?2:16; ATT?652