ORONO, Maine (Interstat) — Juju Stevens drove in four runs with a third-inning grand slam and Hunter St. Denis doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh as Maine rallied past Albany 7-5 on Friday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond.

The Black Bears improved to 19-30 overall and 12-14 in America East play. The Great Danes dropped to 15-30 and 8-20.

Albany struck first in the top of the second. Tre Mariano singled, stole second and scored on Jaxon Mueller’s RBI single up the middle. The Great Danes added another run in the fifth on Patrick DeSarno’s RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to Tre Mariano that made it 3-0. Mueller later delivered a two-run single in the seventh to give Albany a 5-5 tie after Maine had erased the early deficit.

Maine’s comeback began in the bottom of the third. Quinn Murphy reached on a fielding error by first baseman Jaxon Mueller, advanced to second on a bunt groundout and moved to third on a walk. After a walk loaded the bases, Stevens crushed a 1-0 pitch over the fence for a grand slam that cut Albany’s lead to 5-4. Troy Carpenter followed with a solo home run that tied the game 5-5.

The score remained deadlocked until the seventh. Stevens led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on St. Denis’ double to left-center field. Carpenter then singled to center, scoring St. Denis to give Maine a 7-5 advantage.

Albany threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with two outs, but Levi McAllister grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. The Great Danes put a runner on second with one out in the ninth, but Pierce Friedman struck out Jaxon Mueller and Luke Filippi to end the game.

Friedman earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing three hits and striking out three. Vaun Larisa started for Maine and went 4 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs with two strikeouts. Owen Wheeler faced one batter and recorded the final out of the fifth.

For Albany, Dylan Banner started and worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing no hits and one run with three strikeouts. Zach Mravlja followed with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out two. Matthew Mariano took the loss, surrendering two runs on two hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Stevens went 1-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base and four RBIs. Carpenter finished 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. St. Denis was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Mueller led Albany with three hits in five at-bats, driving in three runs. DeSarno singled twice and walked, scoring once and driving in a run. Tre Mariano singled, walked twice, scored a run and drove in one.

Albany outhit Maine 11-6, but the Black Bears took advantage of two Great Danes errors and three walks in the pivotal third inning.

The victory was Maine’s second straight over Albany after a 12-1 rout Thursday. The teams conclude the series Saturday.

Maine’s recent stretch has been up-and-down. The Black Bears lost two of three at Massachusetts-Lowell before splitting a doubleheader that weekend, then beat Merrimack 14-4 on Tuesday. Albany had lost three of its last four entering Friday, including a 12-1 defeat to Maine the previous day.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a 4-3 final in favor of Maine, and the ELO system gave the Black Bears a 62.40 percent probability to win.