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ELON, N.C. – Three unanswered runs were not enough to overcome a six-run first-inning deficit on Sunday against Elon as the Northeastern baseball team lost the series finale against the Phoenix, 6-3, at Latham Park.
 
NU relievers Isaac Lippert and Mike Fitzgerald limited Elon (14-16, 6-3 ERA) to seven straight scoreless innings after the Phoenix scored six runs in the first off starter James Mulry. Lippert and Fitzgerald each finished the game with four strikeouts while both also allowed just two hits. Mulry had difficulty working through the bottom of the first inning, walking five and surrendering five earned runs while tossing 42 pitches.
 
Left fielder Pat Madigan went two-for-five from the plate, increasing his reached-base streak to 25 consecutive games. Freshman infielder Maxwell Burt earned his second straight multi-hit game, going two-for three with a walk and a double.
 
Michael Foster picked up his team-leading 41st hit of the season on a single belted during the top of the fourth inning and reached base two more times on an error and a walk. Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine moved Foster from shortstop to center field midway through the game to accommodate Keith Kelly at second base. Kelly scored on an RBI ground out hit by Joey Scambia in the top of the eighth, reaching base twice on the afternoon on a walk and a hit by pitch.
 
First-year third baseman Nolan Lang pounded out his third double of the year, driving in catcher Josh Treff for the Huskies' first run of the game in the fourth.
 
Although Northeastern (11-18, 4-5 CAA) won the strikeout battle with Elon, 9-8, the Huskies' pitching staff combined for 10 walks compared to six thrown by the Phoenix. Shortstop Andy Moore led Elon by going two-for-three with a triple and three RBIs, while Casey Jones netted an RBI on top of walking twice. Lucas Bakker allowed five hits in 5.0 innings on the mound for Elon, striking out five and allowing two runs.
 
The Phoenix made quick work of Mulry in the first inning as Joey Tomko singled and stole second before the NU starter issued three straight walks that put Elon ahead, 1-0. After a wild pitch gave the Phoenix a 2-0 advantage, Mulry walked Venuto and Moore blasted a bases-clearing triple to right-center field that put the Huskies behind, 5-0. Moore would come in to score on a fielding error by Foster during the next at-bat, giving Elon a commanding, 6-0 edge.
 
Following a one-two-three offensive inning in the top of the third, Northeastern managed to assemble a rally in the top half of the fourth. Treff reached base as the Huskies' lead-off man on a fielding error by Elon's third baseman and Lang followed suit shortly after with an RBI double to left center. Pinch hitting for Mason Koppens, Kelly took first base upon being hit by a pitch from Bakker, and two batters later, Foster brought NU within four, 6-2, on an RBI single knocked through the left side of the infield.
 
The Huskies would put runners on the corners with one out in the fifth after a fielder's choice allowed Madigan to take third base. However, Cam Hanley and Lang were both retired, keeping it a four-run ball game.
 
Lippert picked up two of his four strikeouts on the day in the fourth and fifth innings, allowing Fitzgerald to come on with no worse than a three-run deficit. Elon, however, would load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but Fitzgerald came from 2-1 behind in the count to strike out Kory Shumate to end the frame.
 
Fitzgerald would continue to dominate on the mound for NU by striking out Venuto and Moore in the bottom of the seventh. After back-to-back walks and a wild pitch in the eighth put both Kelly and Burt in scoring position, Scambia's ground ball to short left Moore with only one play at first base, allowing Kelly to score to make it 6-3, Elon.
 
Although Fitzgerald would keep the Huskies within three runs after pitching a three-up, three-down, bottom of the eighth, Elon's closer Joe McGillicuddy retired Rob Fonseca, Treff, and Hanley in the ninth on just seven total pitches.
 
Three weekends into the CAA season, Northeastern's 4-5 conference record puts the Huskies in sole possession of fifth place. NU will travel to Connecticut on Tuesday, April 7, before playing in the 2015 Beanpot semfiinals on the road at Boston College on Wednesday, April 8.