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MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – David Hopkins' perfect five-for-five day at the plate helped the Northeastern baseball team chip away at College of Charleston's four-run, mid-game lead Saturday despite NU dropping the second game of the series, 8-5, to the Cougars at The Ballpark at Patriots Point.
 
Hitting out of the leadoff spot, Hopkins provided the backbone to the Huskies' 12-hit afternoon, the 14th game of the season in which NU recorded 10 hits or more. The junior from East Greenwich, Rhode Island, became the third Northeastern player since 2012 to swing five hits in a single game, joining Connor Lyons (2014) and Pat Madigan (2015).
 
Cam Walsh followed Hopkins in the lineup and went three-for-five, charting multiple hits for the fifth time in six games. Pat Madigan's two-run homer in the third inning gave Northeastern (27-23, 10-9 CAA) its first lead of the game at 2-1, while Charlie McConnell's solo shot in the eighth brought the Huskies to within a run of College of Charleston (26-23-1, 9-11 CAA) at 6-5.
 
Brian Christian relieved James Mulry at the start of the fifth inning and tossed three straight scoreless frames, keeping Northeastern within striking distance as the game moved into the late innings. Christian retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before surrendering the first hit of his outing, finishing the game with a season high, four strikeouts, and no walks.
 
After the Cougars had slid in front, 1-0, on Alex Pastorius' RBI single in the bottom of the second, Northeastern came charging back in the third. With Hopkins at second base following a leadoff single and a passed ball, Madigan teed off for his team-leading sixth homer of the year, sending it the opposite way to give NU a 2-1 advantage.
 
Having allowed just one hit through three innings, Mulry ran into a bit of a jam in the fourth as Charleston used a single, two walks, and a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2. Missing the zone on a 3-2 pitch, Mulry walked Ryan Brown to load the bases before Dupree Hart crushed a grand slam to left, building a four-run lead for the Cougars at 6-2.
 
Northeastern rallied back in the sixth, halving Charleston's lead with RBI singles by Hopkins and Walsh. Madigan had a chance to represent the go-ahead run for the Huskies with two on and two out, but struck out swinging to end the frame.
 
McConnell powered his second career home run down the right-field line in the top of the eighth, giving Northeastern life with six outs remaining. However, the Cougars registered three combined hits and scored twice off Christian and Andrew Misiaszek during the bottom of the inning, setting the score in stone at 8-5.
 
Northeastern and College of Charleston will meet in the series finale on Sunday, May 15, at 1 p.m.