Box Score | Season Statistics | Infographic

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Trading big innings with Western Michigan during a back-and-forth contest at the 2017 Snowbird Classic, the Northeastern baseball team was unable to carry its one-run lead across the finish line as the Huskies were upended, 14-7, by the Broncos on Friday morning.
 
Northeastern (5-7) required only eight pitches to jump out to a 2-0 lead during the top of the first inning against Western Michigan (6-6). With Mason Koppens at first base following a leadoff walk, Charlie McConnell booted an 0-1 pitch to right field for his first triple of the season, scoring during the next at-bat on Scott Holzwasser's sacrifice fly to center field.
 
Strategic base running by Ryan Solomon during the second inning allowed the Huskies to expand their lead to 3-0 without a hit. The sophomore designated hitter worked his way around the bases after being pegged by a pitch, reaching second on a balk, taking third on a wild pitch, and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Pat Madigan.
 
NU managed to tack on a fourth unanswered run during the top of the third, when Koppens laced a leadoff triple to center field, scoring immediately on McConnell's RBI groundout to first.
 
Mike Fitzgerald opened Friday's game with four consecutive strikeouts before experiencing his first snag during the bottom of the third inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Western Michigan's Connor Smith knocked a two-run homer to left field, halving the Huskies' lead to 4-2. Although a timely 4-6-3 double play executed by the Huskies' defense would aid Fitzgerald out of the fourth, the Broncos proceeded to rally for four runs off the redshirt-senior during the bottom of the fifth, retaking the lead on Tanner Allison's three-RBI double down the left-field line.
 
Despite falling behind for the first time at 6-4, Northeastern bounced back during the top of the sixth. Burt led off the frame with an infield single to short, advancing a base on each of the Huskies' next two at-bats. After Nolan Lang had taken second base on a wild pitch, Madigan belted a two-RBI double to right field, knotting the game at 6-6. John Mazza continued Northeastern's rally with a one-out single that placed runners on the corners for Koppens, who slapped an RBI groundout to the right side of the infield, giving NU the lead right back at 7-6.
 
After having their offensive efforts silenced by double plays during the seventh and eighth innings, the Huskies carried their one-run lead into the bottom of the eighth, where Western Michigan rallied for eight runs on six hits, including a two-RBI double by Smith and a two-RBI single by Allison.
 
UP NEXT
 
Northeastern will play its penultimate game at the 2017 Snowbird Classic on Saturday, March 11, at 2 p.m. against Lehigh.