ORONO – The University of Maine baseball team earned its way into the America East Championship this season with outstanding pitching, strong hitting, and steady defense.

It was Stony Brook that effectively executed those facets of the game Friday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.

Junior Jon Lewis scattered seven hits and was backed by errorless defense as the fourth-seeded Seawolves earned their second straight trip into the championship round of the America East tournament with a 6-3 victory over the Black Bears at Mahaney Diamond.

Stony Brook, which beat No. 2 UMaine for the third time in four meetings this season and for the third straight time in the postseason, moves into today’s championship round.

Coach Matt Senk’s 28-25 Seawolves await the winner of Friday’s late game between UMaine (33-20) and No. 3 Albany (37-13), an 8-1 winner over top-seeded Northeastern in Friday’s first elimination contest.

The Bears were unable to solve Lewis (7-6), a crafty righthander who kept them guessing with a solid fastball, a good curve, and a slider. He struck out eight and walked two.

“They’re a very good hitting team, I have a lot of respect for them, and I just went at them with all the respect they deserve,” said Lewis, who has beaten UMaine three straight times dating back to last season’s tournament in Vermont and is 4-1 lifetime against the Bears.

And while UMaine’s offense lacked punch, the hosts also had some struggles in the field. The Bears committed three errors which contributed to five unearned runs.

UMaine led 2-1 in the third when Matt Devins reached on a one-out fielding miscue by shortstop Jason Harvey. Isidro Fortuna followed with a hit-and-run single, and Nick Theoharis singled home the first run.

One out later, Dave Mischo launched a towering three-run home run to right field to give the Seawolves the lead for good.

“I was looking for something in the middle of the plate, something I could hit, something I could drive pretty good, and I got it,” Mischo said of his ninth home run.

Bears starter Troy Martin settled down and allowed only three hits and an unearned run over the final five innings, but UMaine scratched out only one more run against Lewis. Martin (5-2), struck out five, walked two, and hit a batter.

Stony Brook started out 1-5 in league play this spring, but battled back to finish 11-10, edging out Vermont by one game after beating Binghamton twice last weekend.

“We feel like we’ve kind of been playing tournament baseball ever since [the 1-5 start] and that’s kind of how we’ve approached it, and we’ve done well over that stretch of time and, therefore, I think our confidence level coming in was very high,” Senk said.

Stony Brook took a 1-0 lead in the first when Devins was hit by a pitch and scored on Fortuna’s double to center field.

UMaine countered in the third as Pete Saunders walked and took third on Mike Ferriggi’s looping single to right field. Harvey plated a run with a groundout, then Aaron Izaryk blooped an RBI single to center to give the Bears a 2-1 lead.

The hosts threatened in the fifth on two-out singles by Harvey and Simon Williams and a walk to Izaryk, but Lewis struck out Joel Barrett to end the inning.

“He goes out hard every game, he’s got nasty stuff, and he’s a really tough guy on the mound,” Mischo said of Lewis.

UMaine then had runners at second and third with one out in the seventh, but Williams grounded out to first and third baseman Theoharis made a nifty diving stab of an Izaryk grounder toward the shortstop hole and threw to first for the final out.

“The defense was great,” Lewis said. “We seemed to gel today, and my job was just throw the ball over the plate and let my defense take care of the rest and they did a good job.”

Ferriggi doubled and singled while Harvey singled twice for the Bears.

In Friday’s first game, Northeastern’s Devin Monds surrendered four runs on two hits and three walks in the first inning as Albany eliminated the regular-season champion Huskies (28-20).

Adam Kroft scattered four hits, allowing only Jeff Heriot’s solo homer in the seventh inning, as the Great Danes advanced. He struck out 11 and walked one.

Jason Martin doubled and singled with three RBIs to lead Albany, while Derek DeGrazio singled twice with an RBI.

(Friday’s First Game)

Northeastern (28-20) 000 000 100 – 1 4 1

Albany (37-13) 400 004 00x – 8 6 1

Monds, Ottavino (1), Madison (6) and Morizio; Kroft and Martin

SEAWOLVES 6, BLACK BEARS 3

(Friday’s First Game)

Maine (33-20) Stony Brook (28-25)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Williams, cf 4 0 1 0 Larsen, cf 5 0 0

Izaryk, c 3 0 1 1 Devins, ss 2 2 0

Barrett, 1b 4 0 0 0 Fortuna, lf 4 1 1

Creek, 3b 4 0 1 0 Theoharris, 3b 4 1 1

Hough, rf 4 0 0 0 Solano, rf 4 1 0

Quintal, lf 3 0 0 0 Mischo, 1b 4 1 4

McGraw, ph 1 0 0 0 Cicatelli, c 4 0 0

Houser, lf 0 0 0 0 Sipp, 2b 4 0 0

Saunders, dh 3 1 0 0 Didsbury, dh 3 0 0

Ferriggi, 2b 4 2 2 0

Harvey, ss 4 0 2 1

Totals 34 3 7 2 Totals 34 6 8 6

Maine 002 000 100 ? 3

Stony Brook 104 010 00x ? 0

E?Creek, Harvey, Martin; LOB?Maine 6, Stony Brook 7; 2B?Creek; Fortuna, Cicatelli; HR?Mischo (9)

Maine IP H R ER BB SO

Martin (L,5-2) 8 8 6 1 2 5

Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO

Lewis (W,7-6) 9 7 3 3 2 8

HBP?Devins (by Martin); WP?Lewis; T?2:04; ATT?not reported