It had been 28 games since the start of the season and the Vermont Softball team had yet to play a home game. That changed on Friday as the Cats opened up Archie Post Field on a gorgeous afternoon with the start of a three game set against the Stony Brook Seawolves.GAME 1 Vermont (11-19, 2-8 America East) entered the games ranked last in the America East Conference but they got off to a great start in the first game behind a masterful pitching performance from Aimee Kern. The sophomore threw a spectacular three-hitter as the Catamounts won 4-0. She struck out nine batters including seven of the first 12 that she faced on the way to her third shutout this season as she improves her record to 9-9.The Cats first got on the board in the third inning thanks to two Stony Brook errors. Senior Gillian Rappaport reached on an error with one out and then stole second. She was moved up to third on a groundout by Kate Haber and on the same play scored when the Seawolves committed their second masque of the inning. Vermont stretched their lead out to 3-0 in the fourth inning with a pair of runs. They had a chance to pour it on when they started the frame by getting runners on second and third. But on two consecutive plays Vermont runners were thrown out at home. The Cats finally cashed in when the pitcher, Kern, pounded her second triple of the season, which scored Rappaport and Haber. Stony Brook (19-19, 5-5) broke up Kern’s perfect game bid in the top of the sixth inning when Kelly Oberto singled. She was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt but was thrown out at third on the next play, a fielder’s choice to the shortstop. The Seawolves threatened with runners on first and second with two outs but Kern struck out Marissa Fleury to retire the side and get out of the jam. The Cats tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the inning when Jeanine Connoly singled to center. She was pinch run for by Rachelle Eloschuk who stole second and then came in to score on a RBI double by Sarah Toczylowski. Toczylowski was the star behind the plate, going 2-3 with an RBI, while Rappaport chipped in two runs in the contest.GAME 2The second game was all about the Seawolves as they cruised to a 4-0 victory behind a solid pitching performance from Angela Andrews and a potent lineup. The Seawolves bats woke early in the second game as they scored all four of their runs in the first three innings. The game got off to a rocky start for Catamounts pitcher Alison Daggett. The Seawolves’ Kelsi Farnelli led off the game with a single and was sacrificed to second. With two out in the inning Hayley Durham coaxed a walk to put players on first and second with Suzanne Turek coming to the plate. Turek drove a ball into the outfield for a two RBI double. She was followed by Fleury who hit a double of her own to five Stony Brook a 3-0 lead at the end of the first. The Seawolves added to their lead in the third when Durham hit her 11th home run of the season to deep center field. Dagget only lasted 2 1/3 innings after giving up four runs on six hits. She was replaced in the third by Sara Burke, who went on to throw five shutout innings while only allowing two hits. Burke also got it done behind the plate. In her only at-bat she drove a ball to deep leftfield and off the wall for a stand-up double. This was the first hit of the game and one of only two for the Catamounts off Andrews. Vermont and Stony Brook wrapped up their series on Saturday but this is just the beginning of a long 11-game home stand for the Cats as they look to get back in the hunt in the America East. Their next home game is a double header on April 22nd against UMBC, slated to start at noon.