Box Score

Game 49
Final Score	Northeastern 5, Delaware 3 (W, Ferguson 6-4)
Records	NU 27-22 (11-13 CAA), Delaware (31-19, 13-11 CAA)
Next Game	Thurs., May 17 at Towson (Towson, Md.), 3:30 p.m.

BROOKLINE, Mass. – In a crucial conference rubber game, Northeastern and Delaware battled back and forth, but the Huskies (27-22, 11-13 CAA) came out on top thanks to excellent pitching and timely hits, defeating the Blue Hens (31-19, 13-11 CAA), 5-3, to claim the series on Sunday.

Kevin Ferguson earned his 15th career win -- No. 10 all-time at Northeastern -- handling Delaware's powerful lineup. Ferguson tossed eight full innings, allowing just three runs on a meager four hits, striking out nine Blue Hens in the process. For the second straight afternoon, Michael Foster picked up the save -- his third of the season. Foster also was a player at the plate, going 2-for-4 and knocking in four of the Huskies' five runs, including a bases-clearing triple in the fifth.

For the 32nd time this season, Northeastern dented the scoreboard first. Matt Soren  got Aaron Barbosa and Brad Burcroff to fly out for the game's first pair of outs, but Rob Fonseca made contact for NU's first base knock of the day in the next at-bat. Michael Foster blasted his team-leading 16th double to right center a couple of pitches later and Fonseca hustled home from first to give the Huskies an early 1-0 advantage.

Ferguson retired the Blue Hens in order in the first inning, striking out the first batter he saw on the way, but the Delaware bats came alive in the second. The senior Husky again fanned the first batter, Nick Ferdinand, and quickly moved the inning along with another strikeout, freezing EJ Stoltzfus for his third strikeout in five batters. But Zach Lopes drew a four-pitch walk, followed by an RBI single from Cameron Travalini and another run-scoring double by Brock Niggebrugge to give the Hens a 2-1 lead after two and a half innings.

In the top of the fifth, Delaware grabbed another run, going up 3-1 after Ty Warrington reached on a fielder's choice, which brought home Travalini. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Northeastern pounced. Soren retired the first two Huskies he saw, but the Blue Hen started to lose his control, walking three consecutive batters. Michael Foster made Soren pay during the next at-bat, slamming a bases-clearing three-bagger to give the Huskies a much-needed boost and a 4-3 lead.

The Huskies added an insurance run after Sean Lyons came across in the seventh inning on a Dan Gatto wild pitch, giving Northeastern the 5-3 advantage it would claim the series with.

After eight innings of work, Ferguson was pulled in favor of Foster, who would earn the save after striking out the final two batters he faced.

The Huskies hit the road for the final weekend series of the regular season, traveling to Towson, Md., to face the Tigers for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday set in the hopes of securing their spot in the CAA tournament in Harrisonburg, Va.