Box Score

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – The Northeastern baseball team opened the 2014 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament with a 4-3 loss against No. 4 Delaware on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The No. 5 Huskies (25-28) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and starting pitcher Chris Carmain allowed just three earned runs through seven innings, but the Blue Hens rallied for four unanswered runs to claim the first-round victory.
 
Brad Burcroff (1-for-4, R) led off the second inning with a single through the left side and Cam Hanley (1-for-2, R, 2B, RBI) followed with a double down the left-field line to score Burcroff and give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Hanley advanced to third on the play after the throw home sailed to the backstop. Sean Lyons (0-for-3, R) then drew a walk to put runners on the corners with nobody out, and Gabe Levanti (0-for-3, RBI) followed with a ground out to short that allowed Hanley to score as Lyons moved into scoring position. Following a strikeout, Josh Treff (1-for-4, 3B, RBI) ripped his first-career triple down the right-field line to give Northeastern a 3-0 advantage.
 
Jake Clark's solo home run in the fourth inning cut the Huskies' lead to 3-1, and the Blue Hens (25-25) looked to add more after Ryan Hartley reached base on Cam Hanley's throwing error from third. Cameron Travalini followed with an infield single to short, but Jason Vosler's throw to second base wound up in shallow right field. However, Sean Lyons was there to back up the play and the senior caught Travilini trying to advance to second base as the Huskies took a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning.  
 
Northeastern looked to add to its lead after consecutive Delaware errors allowed Connor Lyons (1-for-3) and Michael Foster (1-for-4) to reach base with two outs in the fifth, but the Huskies stranded the runners after Jason Vosler (0-for-4) flied out to left field.
 
The Blue Hens put a runner in scoring position in the sixth inning after Zach Lopes drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Carmain's third strikeout of the game ended the stanza and kept the Huskies' 3-1 lead intact.
 
Delaware got one run closer in the seventh inning after Ty Warrington and Joe Giacchino collected consecutive infield hits with two outs, and E.J. Stoltzfus followed with an RBI double to bring the Blue Hens to within 3-2, but Carmain got Norm Donkin to ground out and end the inning. 
 
The Blue Hens loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning after Zach Lopes and Alex Mottle both hit singles and Jake Clark followed with a walk. Mike Fitzgerald came out of the bullpen for NU to inherit the daunting situation, and the redshirt freshman struck out the first batter he faced. However, Nick Liggett hit a pinch-hit single to tie the game, and Warrington's sac fly gave the Blue Hens a 4-3 edge.
 
The Huskies play an elimination game later tonight as they will face the loser of the James Madison vs. UNCW matchup.
 
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