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BROOKLINE, Mass. – Freshman Maxwell Burt made clutch plays on both the offensive and defensive sides of the diamond on Friday afternoon and hit the game-winning single that propelled the Northeastern baseball team to win a 3-2, 13-inning thriller in walk-off fashion against Delaware on Friday afternoon at Friedman Diamond.
 
Although Burt struck out four times after singling during his first at-bat of the game, the first-year second baseman ripped an RBI single down the left-field line in the bottom of the 13th inning that scored Cam Hanley from third. The North Andover, Massachusetts, native also chased down a foul ball and made a diving catch over the first-base wall that fired up the NU dugout late in the game.
 
Friday's game was the first 13-inning contest the Huskies have played since April 26, 2013, when NU defeated Georgia State, 6-5, at home. In Northeastern's six head-to-head games against Delaware during the last two seasons, five have been decided by one run while three have been resolved in extra innings.
 
Hanley, who started as the Huskies' designated hitter for the ninth time this year on Friday, went four-for-six from the plate and improved his season batting average by 32 percentage points (.272). The sophomore also hammered out his third double of the year to lead off the home half of the second inning.
 
Nick Berger threw 111 pitches in 8.0 innings as the senior completed his longest outing of the season. Berger allowed just two earned runs on eight total hits while walking three and striking out three. The co-captain retired 10 consecutive Delaware batters between the first and fourth innings.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Mike Fitzgerald also tossed his longest relief outing of 2015 (4.0 innings pitched), keeping the Blue Hens scoreless between the ninth and 12th innings. Aaron Civale struck out the side in the 13th inning and has accumulated nine strikeouts in his last 3.2 innings pitched.
 
Redshirt-junior Michael Foster made several key defensive stops at shortstop for Northeastern (8-14, 1-3 CAA), finishing the game going three-for-six. Foster improved his season batting average to a conference-best .420 and has now smacked a team-high 34 hits.
 
Adam Davis threw 7.1 innings for Delaware (9-7, 2-2 CAA) and allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out eight. Right fielder Norm Donkin went three-for-six from the plate to lead the Blue Hens while Joe Giacchino and Zach Lopes each ended the day with two hits in six at-bats.
 
Delaware struck first against the Huskies in the top half of the first inning after Donkin hit a one-out triple down the right-field line, scoring Giacchino from first base. NU center fielder Mason Koppens held a hot glove in the Huskies' outfield, making all three defensive putouts to retire the Blue Hens in the first.
 
Josh Treff and Pat Madigan both reached on errors by Delaware's third baseman, Diaz Nardo, but Davis successfully struck out Foster and Scambia, breaking up the NU rally. By reaching base on the error, Madigan extended his active reached-base streak to 18 straight games.
 
Northeastern fought back in the bottom of the second inning when Hanley led off the frame with a double and scored three batters later on an RBI single by Burt, tying the game at 1-1.
 
Berger and Davis both put on pitching clinics for the fans at Friedman Diamond as the two aces went toe-to-toe, matching each other with several scoreless half innings. Back-to-back singles by Lopes and Donkin gave Delaware two base runners in the sixth with all three outs to work with and a sacrifice fly by Nardo allowed Lopes to score, putting the Blue Hens in front, 2-1.
 
Northeastern found new life in the bottom of the eighth inning when first baseman Rob Fonseca teed off for his team-leading fourth home run of the season on a solo shot to left field, leveling the game at 2-2. NU would load the bases later in the inning after an intentional walk issued to pinch hitter Nick Fanneron, but Koppens struck out, ending the two-out rally.
 
Fitzgerald and Civale held Delaware to just three hits during the final five innings of the game, awarding the Huskies with multiple chances to walk off and win the game.
 
Northeastern managed to string a couple of hits together in the 13th inning after Hanley led off the frame with a single to right field. After Lang bunted Hanley over to second base, Koppens hit a rolling ground ball down the left-field line that stayed fair for an infield single, moving Hanley over to third. Burt then proceeded to smack a 1-0 pitch down the left-field line, scoring Hanley as the Huskies rushed out of the dugout to mob Burt at the center of the infield, congratulating the freshman on the game-winning hit.
 
Due to snow being forecast in Brookline, Massachusetts, this weekend, Northeastern's game on Saturday, March 28, against Delaware has been postponed and rescheduled as a doubleheader on Sunday, March 29. The Huskies and Blue Hens will now play two games, back-to-back, on March 29, with the first game beginning at 11:30 a.m.

For an updated look at Northeastern's 2015 schedule, please visit the Huskies' schedule page.