Box Score

BOSTON – The Northeastern baseball team lost its first-ever game against Virginia Tech, 12-5, Wednesday night in Blacksburg, Virginia. Despite the loss, the Husky offense totaled at least five runs for the fourth-consecutive game.
 
Wednesday's game marked a reunion between Virginia Tech head coach Patrick Mason and the NU coaching staff. Mason was a Northeastern assistant coach under Neil McPhee from 2005 to 2010 and played for McPhee from 1994 o 1997. Mason joined the Virginia Tech staff in 2010, and 2014 marks his first season at the helm of the Hokies. Current assistant coach and Northeastern's next head coach, Mike Glavine, coached with Mason at NU from 2007 to 2010, and both were teammates at Northeastern.

"For me, personally, playing against Pat (Mason) as the opposing coach was special," said McPhee. "He is a terrific young coach and an even better person. And then to see Mike (Glavine) coaching third base, knowing that he's Northeastern's next head coach, I felt like a proud parent."
 
Nine Hokies batted in the first inning as Virginia Tech posted three runs in the opening stanza. Saige Jenco and Alex Perez led off the inning with consecutive walks, and Mark Zagunis hit into a fielder's choice that put runners on the corners.  Brendon Hayden's single gave the Hokies a 1-0 lead, and a double steal put two runners in scoring position for Sean Keselica, who grounded out to second base but was able to score Zagunis. Phil Sciretta followed with an RBI single to give Virginia Tech a 3-0 lead.
 
The Hokies added a run in the second inning after Perez reach base with a one-walk and moved to third on a single by Zagunis. Hayden followed with an RBI double to give Virginia Tech a 4-0 lead.
 
Northeastern made it a one-run game in the third inning after Gabe Levanti (0-for-2, R) and Sean Lyons (0-for-1, R) began the stanza with consecutive walks, and both scored on Connor Lyons' (1-for-5, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI) fifth triple of the season. Lyons touched home when Michael Foster (1-for-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI) grounded out to short, cutting the Huskies' deficit to 4-3, but five singles in the home half of the fourth inning gave Virginia Tech a 7-3 cushion.
 
The Huskies got two runs closer in the fifth inning after Connor Lyons reached base on a fielder's choice and then scored on Foster's double, and Northeastern loaded the bases after Jason Vosler was hit by a pitch and Brad Burcroff hit a single. Cam Hanley (1-for-3, RBI), last week's CAA Rookie of the Week, drew a four-pitch walk to score Foster and bring the Huskies to within 7-5.    
 
Three consecutive singles and an error allowed Virginia Tech to push its lead to 9-5 in the sixth inning, and Hayden's RBI double in the seventh put the game out of reach at 10-5. The Hokies added two more runs in the eighth inning thanks to RBIs from Jenco and Perez.

"Although it was a tough loss to a very good ACC team, I think we came away with a lot of 'good,' which will help us in our next series," said McPhee. "Our one-through-four hitters hit the ball hard multiple times tonight - they're the key to our offense and have been very productive for the past two weeks."
 
The Huskies remain in Virginia for a three-game series at James Madison starting on Friday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m.
 
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