BURLINGTON, Vt. – Nolan Boike hadn’t pitched much in recent weeks for the University of Maine. The sophomore, the No. 2 starter early in the season, had struggled with his control.

Behind the scenes, the lefthander worked out the kinks. Thursday afternoon, he demonstrated the progress he has made.

Boike worked four-plus innings of two-hit, shutout relief, helping the third-seeded Black Bears claim an 11-8 victory over No. 2 Stony Brook in the first round of the America East Championship at Centennial Field.

“If the opportunity presents itself, you’ve got to be ready to go,” said Boike, who had left the team prior to the playoffs last season but returned this year. “My main focus was to keep the ball down today, try to get ahead of the batters and get some ground balls, and luckily it worked out for me.”

UMaine (33-20-1) advanced to today’s 3:30 p.m. winners’ bracket game against No. 1 Vermont, a 5-4 victor over No. 4 Albany in 10 innings.

“It’s a big confidence boost,” said Bears coach Steve Trimper. “In these tournaments, you want to stay on the winners’ side.”

After watching Bears starter Scott Robinson and reliever Jason Weymouth surrender five home runs in the first 2 1/3 innings, Boike (4-2) halted the madness. He allowed only two singles, striking out four and walking two, while mixing a good fastball and a sharp-breaking slider.

Boike credited pitching coach Cory Domel and teammate Matt McGraw with helping him fine-tune his delivery, including throwing out of the stretch all the time.

“He’s been working his fanny off,” Trimper said. “I’m happy he had some success after all the hard work he’s put in.”

Freshman A.J. Balsinde recorded the last six outs, including four strikeouts, to earn his second save.

UMaine was merciless with the bats. With freshman Sean Parker (4 RBIs) and senior Ryan Quintal (3 RBIs) leading the charge, the Bears amassed 17 hits, several of them in clutch situations.

Parker hit a two-out, two-run single in the second, an RBI single in the third, a single in the fifth, and a run-scoring single in the seventh.

“I’ve been working on staying more relaxed when I swing because at the beginning of the season I would tense up a little more,” Parker said. “I think it was just getting more confidence back in myself.”

Quintal returned with a vengeance after serving a five-game suspension on the heels of an OUI charge. He singled and scored in the second, ripped an RBI single in the third, stroked a three-run home run in the fourth, then singled and scored in the eighth.

“I think that he felt pressure to kind of pick his teammates up,” Trimper said.

Quintal admitted it was agonizing to remain in Orono while the Bears were here fighting for a playoff spot. He watched the games unfold, statistically, on his computer.

“It was tough last weekend,” Quintal said. “I’m glad to be able to contribute to the team. It’s definitely good to be back and helping the cause.”

Curt Smith (2 RBIs) singled four times for UMaine.

Isidro Fortuna homered twice – a wind-blown, three-run job in the second and a solo shot in the fourth – for the Seawolves (23-28). Andres Perez and Chris DiBiaso each hit a solo homer and a single.

UMaine, which trailed three times early, patiently kept battling back and finally broke an 8-8 deadlock in the seventh. Kevin McAvoy smashed an infield single off the third baseman, then Mark Ostrander flared a single to right-center. Parker followed with a sharp RBI single off the third baseman’s glove.

“Coach always talks about staying even keel all the time, not letting our emotions get too high or low,” Quintal said. “We knew that we could score more runs and that eventually our pitchers would come up big like Boike did.”

“I thought it was real [gutsy],” Parker said. “He came out and threw well.”

BLACK BEARS 11, SEAWOLVES 8

Maine (33-20-1) Stony Brook (23-28)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Hough, cf 4 0 0 0 Witkowski, cf 5 1 1

McGraw, dh 4 2 1 0 Sipp, 2b 5 0 0

Barrett, 1b 4 1 1 0 Pennino, 1b 5 0 0

Quintal, lf 5 4 4 3 Perez, 3b 5 1 1

Cather, lf 0 0 0 0 Pasieka, c 4 1 0

Smith, ss 5 1 4 2 DiBiaso, ss 2 2 1

McAvoy, 3b 5 2 1 1 Leonard, rf 4 1 1

Hackett, 3b 0 0 0 0 Fortuna, dh 3 2 4

Ostrander, rf 3 1 1 0 Milani, lf 4 0

Parker, c 4 0 4 4

Menendez, 2b 4 0 1 1

Totals 38 11 17 11 Totals 37 8 11 8

Maine 024 200 111 – 11

Stony Brook 142 100 000 – 8

E-Smith, Menendez; LOB-Maine 8, Stony Brook 5; HR-Quintal; Witkowski, Perez, DiBiaso, Fortuna 2; DP-Parker-Smith, Menendez-Smith-Barrett; Leonard-Pennino, DiBiaso-Sipp-Pennino, Sipp-DiBiaso-Pennino; S-Parker; SF-Menendez; SB-McGraw 2

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Robinson 2 1/3 7 6 6 0 1

Weymouth 2/3 2 2 2 0 0

Boike (W, 4-2) 4 2 0 0 2 4

Balsinde (S, 2) 2 0 0 0 1 4

Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO

Koehler 3 1/3 7 7 7 4 2

Zydor 1 2/3 5 1 1 0 0

Brown 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

Errigo (L, 3-4) 2/3 3 1 1 0 0

Novakowski 3 2 2 2 2 1

T-3:06

Weymouth faced 1 batter in 4th, Boike faced 1 batter in 8th; Zydor faced 1 batter in 6th, Errigo faced 3 batters in 7th