Box Score BOSTON – The Northeastern baseball team loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth inning while trailing by three, but the College of Charleston dodged trouble and held on for a 3-0 win in the first Colonial Athletic Association game of the season for both teams on Friday night.
Brad Burcroff (1-for-4) reached base with a one-out single in the ninth and
Nick Fanneron (1-for-2, 2B) followed with a double.
Jimmy Hand (0-for-1) came in to pinch hit and struck out, but
Sean Lyons (0-for-3) drew a walk to load the bases.
Shane Allen (0-for-1), who came in as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, stepped in the box for his first at-bat of the game and popped up foul to the catcher to end the contest.
Rainy weather forced NU (10-11, 0-1 CAA) and CofC (16-8, 1-0 CAA) to reschedule first pitch several times Friday, and there was a two-and-a-half hour rain delay that began in the middle of the sixth inning.
Northeastern starting pitcher
Nick Berger allowed just one unearned run through five innings and struck out six, but he was replaced by
Aaron Civale following the lengthy rain delay.
The Cougars tallied an unearned run in the third inning to claim a 1-0 lead. Blake Butler's two-out double broke up Berger's streak of retiring seven-consecutive batters, and Brandon Murray followed with a groundball to the hole at second base.
Michael Foster ranged to his right to field the grounder, but his throw to first was offline and allowed Butler to score.
CofC threatened to add to its lead in the fourth inning after Austin Bello hit a one-out single and Brandon Glazer drew a walk, but Berger buckled down and induce consecutive ground outs to keep NU within a run. The Cougars had runners on the corners with two outs in the fifth after both Butler and Gunnar Heidt singled, but Berger once again showed great poise as his sixth strikeout of the game sent Carl Wise and the Cougar bats back to the bench.
The Cougars increased their lead to 2-0 immediately following the rain delay after Erven Roper and Morgan Phillips hit consecutive doubles in the bottom of the sixth inning. CofC scored its third run after Austin Bello led off the eighth inning with a walk and Brandon Glazer followed with an RBI triple.
"We played a solid game, but Charleston was just a little better tonight," said Northeastern assistant coach
Mike Glavine. "We just couldn't get anything going offensively, but we pitched very well."
The Huskies and Cougars meet again on Saturday, March 29, for a 3 p.m. game.
Chris Carmain is scheduled to start on the mound for Northeastern.
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