Final Score: Vermont 5, Stony Brook 1 I Box Score
STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- A strong complete-game effort by Justin Albert (Hull, Mass.) and four hits by Jeff Heppner (Riverhead, N.Y.) gave Vermont a 5-1 win over Stony Brook in America East baseball Sunday afternoon at University Field. The victory stopped a six-game losing streak for the Catamounts who keep their postseason hopes alive. Vermont improves to 20-25 overall and 9-10 in the America East with four games left in the conference schedule. Second place Stony Brook (28-21, 13-6 America East), along with first-place Binghamton (15-4), have clinched spots in the upcoming four-team America East Baseball Championship to be held May 24-26. Albert (4-3) went the distance in the nine-inning contest allowing six hits, three walks to go with seven strikeouts. Over the first eight innings, he pitched scoreless ball scattering just three singles. In lowering his overall earned run average to 2.36, Albert picked up his second win in his last three decisions in league play. Vermont had struggled at the plate during its six previous contests but used timely hitting against the Seawolves to score four of its five runs with two outs. In the fourth, Kyle Henry (Brattleboro, Vt.) doubled with two down and came home on a single to left by Heppner. UVM added another in the sixth as Ethan Paquette (West Burke, Vt.) singled, moved to third on a two-out double by Heppner and scored on a balk by Stony Brook starter and loser Kurt Jung (6-4). The Catamounts made it 4-0 in the seventh on RBI-singles by Bryan Rembisz (Clinton, Conn.) and Paquette. UVM would add another in the top of the ninth as Nick Gallipani (Brewster, N.Y.) walked and went to third on a double by Rembisz. Paquette picked up his second RBI of the contest with a sacrifice fly to left bringing home Gallipani. The Seawolves broke up Albert's shutout bid in the last of the ninth on a triple by Robert Leonard and a double by Robert Dyer. Vermont had 12 hits to back Albert led by Heppner, a native of Long Island, who went 4-for-4 with a RBI Sunday to cap a weekend series where he hit .545 (6-for-11). Rembisz went 2-for-5 with a RBI while Paquette was 2-for-4 on the afternoon and his two RBI give him 22 on the season, the most by an America East freshman. The Catamounts return home to host Connecticut in a non-league game Tuesday at 6:00pm before closing out the regular season with a crucial four-game America East series with Albany next weekend at historic Centennial Field. Admission is free for all Vermont regular season home games.