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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Despite churning out 11 hits, three of which came from Mason Koppens, the Northeastern baseball team was unable to mount an Opening Day comeback on Friday afternoon as the Huskies were defeated, 9-4, by Southern Mississippi at Pete Taylor Park.
 
Mason Koppens enjoyed a sturdy day out of the ninth spot of Northeastern's lineup, going three-for-four and collecting his first RBI of the year when his infield single plated Scott Holzwasser during the top of the fourth. Holzwasser too began the 2017 season on a high note, reaching base four times during his collegiate debut and singling twice while also stealing two bags.
 
Redshirt-senior Mike Fitzgerald, the Huskies' all-time co-leader in saves (17), kept the efficient Southern Miss offense at bay during his first career start, holding the Golden Eagles to three runs, all earned, during five innings on the mound. Fitzgerald also struck out three, walked three, and allowed five hits.
 
Northeastern (0-1) grabbed an early, 1-0 lead just three batters into the game. Charlie McConnell belted the second pitch he saw from Southern Miss starter Hayden Roberts into right field for a single, before casually taking second base upon David Hopkins being pegged with a 2-0 pitch. Cam Hanley proceeded to put the visitors on the scoreboard with an RBI single through the right side that scored McConnell and moved Hopkins over to third.
 
NU carried its 1-0 advantage into the bottom of the third, where the Golden Eagles began making contact. LeeMarcus Boyd led the inning off with a double through the left-center gap and scored on Dylan Burdeaux's RBI single, knotting the game at 1-1. Despite the Huskies' infield turning two on a successful, 4-6-3 double play, Southern Miss took a 2-1 lead on Fitzgerald's lone wild pitch and upped its edge to 3-1 on a solo homer by Taylor Braley.
 
Holzwasser's steal of second base with one out in the fourth inning prompted Northeastern with a chance to even up the contest. John Mazza followed with a single to put runners on the corners for Koppens, who brought Holzwasser home on his infield single. After a wild pitch had moved Mazza and Koppens both into scoring position, David Hopkins delivered an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3, despite Koppens being thrown out at the plate.
 
Both team's starting pitchers left the game at the start of the sixth inning, with Roberts bettering Fitzgerald in strikeouts, 11-3. Burdeaux tacked on three unearned insurance runs to the Golden Eagles' 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth, powering a two-out homer off Nate Borges to give the home side a 7-3 lead.
 
Southern Miss (1-0) tacked on two more runs during the seventh inning on Braley's second home run of the game. Pat Madigan would negate one of those runs on his ninth-inning blast to left field, but the Huskies would end the afternoon five runs short of the Golden Eagles.
 
Game two between Northeastern and Southern Mississippi is set for Saturday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. EST. Andrew Misiaszek (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will oppose the Golden Eagles' Kirk McCarty (0-0, 0.00 ERA).