Box Score

Game 45
Final Score	UNCW 9, Northeastern 5 (L, Ferguson 5-4)
Records	NU 25-20 (9-12 CAA), UNCW (34-14, 15-5 CAA)
Next Game	Tuesday, May 7 at Hartford (Hartford, Conn.), 3 p.m.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Northeastern had UNCW on its toes, up 5-1 into the sixth inning, but an eight-run frame gave the Seahawks (34-14, 15-5 CAA) a 9-5 win over the Huskies (25-20, 9-12 CAA) to claim the series. In the process, junior Aaron Barbosa set the all-time Northeastern record for steals with the 67th of his career.

Both Brad Bucroff and John Puttress grabbed three hits on the day in the Huskies' favor, and Sean Lyons had a break-out day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the fourth inning -- his first of the year. On the mound, senior lefty Kevin Ferguson earned the loss after 5.2 innings of work and six strikeouts.

The Huskies bunched runs throughout the day, including in the game's opening inning. Burcroff drew a walk and was driven home two batters later by a double to left center by Rob Fonseca. Michael Foster repaid the favor with an RBI double of his own, sending Fonseca home for an early 2-0 lead. Northeastern finished the day with four doubles, all off starter Christian MacDonald. UNCW took a run back in the bottom of the inning, however, after back-to-back singles from Dunlap and LaGrange, making things 2-1.

Both Ferguson and MacDonald made quick work of the opposition through the next two innings until Northeastern put three runs up on the board in the fourth. John Puttress connected on one of his three hits with a leadoff standup double, his second extra-base hit of the season. Though he was picked off at second, Pete Castoldi drew a hit by pitch and was pushed across along with S. Lyons on the center fielder's two-run shot. The Huskies added one more after Barbosa singled and stole his record bag. Burcroff grabbed his second of three base knocks, sending an RBI single into left field to make it 5-1 in the Huskies' favor.

But two innings later, the Seahawks poured on eight runs as both Ferguson and reliever Dylan Maki saw 13 batters combined in the frame. Keeler hit a one-out, two-RBI home run to open things up, and brought two more runners home at the end of the inning, sandwiching three RBI singles and two errors committed by the Huskies. The big inning allowed UNCW to take a 9-5 lead into the seventh and beyond.

After Matt Cook came on in relief for Maki, the junior shut UNCW down, but the Husky bats weren't able to produce any more runs, though, giving the Seahawks the 9-5 win to claim the series. NU is back in action on Tuesday as the Huskies head to Connecticut to play Hartford for another out-of-conference contest. The weekend slate will be the Huskies' last home stretch of home games as Delaware comes to town for another crucial weekend CAA battle.