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CINCINNATI – Cam Hanley's two-run homer during the top of the fourth inning was the only scoring play the Northeastern baseball team could muster on Sunday afternoon against Cincinnati as the Huskies lost the series finale, 4-2, to the Bearcats at Marge Schott Stadium.
 
Hanley's first dinger of the 2017 season, also the fifth of his Northeastern career, came four pitches after Cam Walsh had thumped a leadoff double through the gap in left-center field. At the time, the two-run shot had tied the game at 2-2, but Cincinnati went on to score twice during the bottom of the sixth inning, where they took the lead for the final time.
 
NU pitchers Brian Christian and David Stiehl posted nearly identical lines, both lasting four innings and allowing two earned runs on four and three hits, respectively. Christian bounced back from the Bearcats' two-run first inning to deliver three straight scoreless frames, thwarting Cincinnati's bases-loaded rally during the bottom of the third inning. Stiehl retired the Bearcats in order on two occasions, despite being charged with the losing decision.
 
Four of Northeastern's six hits on Sunday landed for extra bases, including Max Burt's second-inning double that extended the shortstop's hitting streak to 10 straight games. Hanley added an eighth-inning double to his game-tying homer, finishing the day as the lone NU player with multiple hits.
 
Connor McVey brought home the first of two first-inning runs for Cincinnati (9-9), connecting on an RBI double that scored Kyle Mottice from first base. McVey smartly took third base on the Huskies' relay throw that nearly nabbed Mottice at the plate and scored during the next at-bat, when R.J. Thompson dropped an RBI single over the head of the retreating NU second baseman, Scott Holzwasser.
 
Christian helped himself out of a bases-loaded jam during the bottom of the third inning, striking out Cole Murphy and Treg Haberkorn, back-to-back, to retire the side. One inning later, Christian again stranded two runners in scoring position, keeping the game knotted at 2-2.
 
Northeastern (7-10) had a chance to take the lead during the top of the sixth after Hanley went from first to third on Nick Fanneron's one-out single. However, the Huskies' rally died down upon Fanneron being picked off at first base and Charlie McConnell flying out to center field.
 
Cincinnati went ahead, 3-2, during the bottom of the sixth inning on Ryan Noda's RBI single that had followed Joey Thomas' one-out double. Two at-bats later, Noda darted home on a wild pitch that had been thrown by Stiehl, giving the Bearcats a two-run lead.
 
NU stranded runners on the corners during the top of the eighth inning before being retired in order during the top of the ninth.
 
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Northeastern will make its 2017 Friedman Diamond debut on Tuesday, March 21, when the Huskies renew their crosstown rivalry against Boston College. First pitch between the Huskies and the Eagles is set for 3 p.m.