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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – For the third consecutive season, the Northeastern baseball team will be headed to the CAA tournament as the Huskies defeated William & Mary, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a game-winning single hit by Nolan Lang in the top of the 11th inning.
 
With the victory, Northeastern (22-26, 12-8 CAA) remains in sole possession of third place in the CAA standings, two losses ahead of Elon (13-10 CAA) in fourth. Since the Huskies swept Delaware (7-12 CAA) during a three-game home stand earlier this season, NU is guaranteed to be at least the No. 4 seed heading into the CAA tournament.
 
Sophomore pitchers Dustin Hunt and Aaron Civale limited the Tribe to just one run on eight hits and two walks during the game, combining to throw ten strikeouts. Civale entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and tossed four straight scoreless frames, surrendering just three hits en route to earning his fifth victory of the season. Northeastern has now won each of the last 10 games in which Civale has pitched.
 
After being two-hit by William & Mary (20-26, 10-13 CAA) on Friday night, NU answered back on Saturday as seven different batters recorded all of the Huskies' seven hits, four of which occurred during extra innings. Infielders Keith Kelly and Rob Fonseca both went one-for-three with two walks apiece, while center fielder Michael Foster registered a single and a walk during five trips to the plate.
 
Freshman Maxwell Burt hammered the only extra-base hit of the day for the Huskies with a double that opened the third. The first-year shortstop from North Andover, Massachusetts, also put NU ahead, 1-0, when he darted home on a passed ball later that inning.
 
William & Mary sophomore Nick Brown struck out 11 NU batters during 8.0 innings on the mound, conceding just one unearned run while allowing two hits and five walks. Zach Newell went three-for-four from the plate with a double, while Ryan Hall drove in the lone run of the game for the Tribe on a sacrifice fly in the third. Ryder Miconi also netted two hits, including a two-out double in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Following a lead-off single by Foster in the top of the first, Kelly watched four straight balls sail by him as the NU second baseman made his way casually down the first-base line on a walk. With one out and two runners on, Cam Hanley grounded into fielder's choice, but an error on the play by the William & Mary shortstop worked in the Tribe's favor as Foster was caught in a rundown between third and home.
 
Burt opened the third inning for the Huskies with a double to left field and advanced to third on a ground out by Foster. With two outs, Brown intentionally walked Fonseca to put runners on the corners, but a costly passed ball found its way behind catcher Devin White, allowing Burt to score and giving NU an early 1-0 edge.
 
Having worked with relative ease through the first two innings, Hunt ran into trouble during the bottom of the third as Newell doubled and later scored on a foul out by Hall. The sophomore would recover nicely, though, retiring six of the next seven batters he faced.
 
However, Brown fell into a similar groove midway through the contest as the William & Mary starter struck out six of the next seven batters he saw upon relinquishing the lead in the third inning.
 
In classic pitcher's duel fashion, Hunt and Brown went back-and-forth trading strikeouts late in the game. Hunt fanned two in the bottom of the sixth before Brown answered back with two of his own during both the seventh and eighth innings. Foster and Fonseca broke up the strikeout stretch with two walks in the eighth, but Hanley ultimately swung through strike three to end the inning.
 
With the game tied at 1-1 for the second straight day heading into the bottom of the eighth, Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine brought in Civale to shut down the Tribe. The NU closer did just that, retiring each of the first five batters he faced before surrendering a two-out double to Miconi in the ninth, but the sophomore kept the Huskies' hopes alive by forcing Luca Farina to ground out.
 
Although Kelly and Fonseca registered back-to-back, two-out singles in the top of the 10th, Hanley again was the bearer of bad news for the Huskies as the NU designated hitter flied out to center. William & Mary would load the bases during the home half of the frame on two singles and a hit-by-pitch, but Civale made Tim Hoehn fly out to push the game to the 11th.
 
Pat Madigan began the top of the 11th with a single to right field and was substituted out for the just as speedy Mason Koppens. Treff successfully bunted Koppens over to second before Lang came through with the game-winning single to right field that gave NU a clutch, 2-1 advantage. Civale wrapped up the victory by striking out the William & Mary side in the bottom of the inning.
 
First pitch of Sunday's series finale between the Huskies and Tribe has been moved up an hour to 12 p.m. to accommodate potential weather moving into the Williamsburg, Virginia, area later in the day.