Box Score | Season Stats | Infographic

WILMINGTON, N.C. – A two-run home run by sophomore Jimmy Hand and key base running by Rob Fonseca helped the Northeastern baseball team jump out to an early 3-0 lead against UNCW on Saturday, but the Seahawks scored four unanswered runs to come back and top the Huskies, 4-3.
 
NU smacked four hits off UNCW starter Ryan Foster during the first three innings of the game, including three during the second. Six different Huskies recorded at least one hit by game's end, most notably Cam Hanley, who boosted his hit streak to 13 straight games by going two-for-four at the plate.
 
Hand's second-inning shot down the right-field line was the left fielder's first collegiate home run and brought in his first two RBIs of the season. The Cedartown, Georgia, native also picked up his second hit of the year and first since Feb. 28 against Kentucky.
 
Fonseca reached base safely three times on Saturday and finished the game with a single, a run scored, two walks, and a stolen base. The first baseman from Madison, New Jersey, gave the Huskies a 3-0 lead in the third inning after UNCW failed to complete a double-play attempt, allowing Fonseca to score on the defensive throwing error.
 
Although Michael Foster's 10-game hit streak came to an end against UNCW (14-6, 2-0 CAA), the shortstop managed to keep his reached-base streak alive at 11 straight games with a fifth-inning walk. NU right fielder Pat Madigan also continued his reached-base streak on Saturday, bumping it to 14 consecutive games with a single in the fifth.
 
Sophomore starting pitcher Dustin Hunt allowed just two earned runs on four hits in 5.0 innings on the mound for Northeastern, leaving the game with a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. Isaac Lippert did not allow a hit during his first two innings of relief work in the sixth and seventh, but the Seahawks rallied for four hits off the senior during the eighth.
 
UNCW's bullpen made life difficult for the Huskies late in the game as Austin Magestro and Jordan Ramsey combined to allow just two hits during the final three frames of the game. Ryan Foster struck out six as the Seahawk's starting pitcher, while center fielder Casey Golden and third baeman Terence Connelly each ended the game with two hits apiece.
 
Two batters after Hanley led off the second inning with a first-pitch single up the middle, NU put the game's first runs on the board on Hand's two-run homer down the right-field line. Catcher Josh Treff moved teammate Maxwell Burt over to second base on a single to center field, but Ryan Foster forced Michael Foster to fly out to left field to end the Northeastern rally.
 
After Hunt struck out Connelly and Kennard McDowell back-to-back during the home half of the second, Mike Piscopo grounded into a fielder's choice moving Fonseca to third, but the throw by the UNCW second baseman got away as Fonseca scored to put NU in front, 3-0.
 
A pair of walks dealt by Hunt to Corey Dick and Joe Bertone put two runners on base in the bottom of the fourth for Golden, who hit an RBI single to left field to cut Northeastern's lead to 3-1.
 
Steven Linkous led off the UNCW fifth with a single and advanced to second base soon after on a wild pitch. Hunt would strike out Zach Shields but a second wild pitch by the sophomore allowed Shields to reach first and Linkous to advance to third. Linkous would end up scoring on a 3-6-1 double play turned by Fonseca, Foster, and Hunt, bringing Northeastern's lead to within one run at 3-2.
 
A string of fielder's choices helped UNCW navigate singles by Burt and Fonseca in the top of the seventh, and limited offense by the Huskies in the top of the eighth preserved Northeastern's 3-2 lead. Dick would single off Lippert to lead off the Seahawks' eighth inning and Golden would double down the left-field line, putting two runners in scoring position for UNCW. Connelly would hit a two-RBI single through the right side during the next at-bat past a diving Fonseca, putting the Seahawks in front, 4-3.
 
Nick Fanneron would strike out in the NU ninth and Burt and Treff would both ground out early in their at-bats, awarding UNCW a one-run victory.
 
Northeastern will look to avoid a three-game sweep at UNCW on Sunday, March 22, at 11 a.m. James Mulry (1-3, 5.24 ERA) will make his first start since striking out 12 during the Huskies' March 15 game against Saint Joseph's.