Box Score  | Coach McPhee Interview

BOSTON – The Northeastern baseball team clinched a Colonial Athletic Association Tournament bid after beating UNCW, 5-3, in its final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon.
 
Northeastern (25-27, 9-11 CAA) returns to the conference tournament for the second-consecutive season after the Huskies made a run into the CAA semifinals in 2013.
 
Before Saturday's first pitch, Northeastern honored its senior members: Brad Burcroff, Chris Carmain, Justin Kessler, Connor Lyons, and Sean Lyons. The Huskies also honored head coach Neil McPhee, who is retiring at the end of the season – his 29th at the helm of NU.
 
Nick Fanneron (1-for-1, HR) hit his first-career home run and Chris Carmain improved to 7-2 after coming out of the bullpen for the first time this season.
 
The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Michael Foster (1-for-5, R, SB) reached base on an infield hit and moved into scoring position with his team-leading 17th steal of the season. Jason Vosler (2-for-4, R, RBI) followed with a routine ground ball to second base, but Terrence Connelly's errant throw to first allowed Foster to score as Vosler advanced to second. Brad Burcroff's (1-for-4) ground out allowed Vosler to move 90 feet from home, and Cam Hanley (2-for-3, R, RBI) ripped an RBI single to right field, giving the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Seahawks (28-25, 10-9 CAA) tied the game, 2-2, by hitting four consecutive two-out singles. Drew Farber and Andy Austin hit back-to-back singles up the middle, and Dillon Bass followed with an RBI base hit to put UNCW on the board. Casey Golden's single to left field scored Austin to even the scoreboard. Corey Dick's solo home run in the sixth inning gave UNCW a 3-2 edge in the sixth inning, but the Huskies evened the score in the bottom of the stanza.
 
Burcroff hit a one-out double down the right-field line, Hanley walked, and Sean Lyons (1-for-4) dove into first base for an infield single to load the bases for Northeastern. Shane Allen (0-for-0, RBI) drew a walk after working the count full to tie the game, 3-3.
 
UNCW threatened to reclaim the lead when it put two runners in scoring position after Bass was hit by a pitch and Golden hit a double, but Carmain recorded a strikeout and induced a ground out to keep the Seahawks from scoring.
 
Connor Lyons (1-for-3, R, 2 SB) began the seventh inning with a walk and moved into scoring position with his 10th steal of the season. Vosler looped a single to right field that allowed Lyons to score and give NU a 4-3 lead. Fanneron came in to pinch hit in the eighth inning and belted his first-career home run into the right-field seats, pushing NU's lead to 5-3.
 
The CAA Tournament begins Wednesday, May 21, at UNCW.
 
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