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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Ryan Solomon's solo home run during the top of the seventh inning was the first of only two hits the Northeastern baseball team was able to swing against UNCW starting pitcher Zarion Sharpe on Saturday evening as the Huskies suffered their second defeat of the weekend to the Seahawks, 11-4, at Brooks Field.
 
Solomon's homer broke up Sharpe's no-hit bid, which had lasted six and one-third innings before the NU cleanup hitter carried a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall. Until then, Mason Koppens and David Hopkins had been the only two base runners for the Huskies, reaching on a third-inning error and a fourth-inning walk, respectively.
 
With Saturday's loss, Northeastern (22-21, 11-6 CAA) was lowered into a three-way tie for first place in the conference with UNCW (23-22, 11-6 CAA) and William & Mary (11-6 CAA), which had defeated fourth-place College of Charleston (12-8 CAA), 6-4, earlier during the day. The top four teams in the league standings will enter Sunday's action separated by only a half game.
 
Northeastern's best offensive inning came during the ninth, when the Huskies brought eight batters to the plate and pulled together three of their five hits. Hopkins began the inning by drawing his second walk off Sharpe, who proceeded to retire Jake Farrell before exiting the game, having thrown 105 pitches.
 
Facing the Seahawks' first reliever, Alex Goff, Solomon laced a double down the left field line, moving Hopkins into scoring position. Two batters later, Cam Walsh brought both runners home on a two-RBI single up the middle, reducing the margin back to single digits. After Walsh had taken second base on indifference, Hand walloped a deep RBI single off the right field wall, scoring Walsh easily to bring the score to where it would stand final at 11-4.
 
Three UNCW players combined to produce four home runs for the Seahawks on Saturday. After swinging the walk-off homer for UNCW during the bottom of the 12th inning on Friday, Casey Golden began the bottom of the first inning on Saturday in similar fashion, belting a solo homer off NU starting pitcher, David Stiehl.
 
Brian Mims and Ryan Jeffers hit back-to-back homers for UNCW during the bottom of the fourth inning, exclusively accounting for the Seahawks' four-run frame. Mims also led off the sixth inning with a solo homer that gave UNCW a 10-0 edge.
 
Riley Zayicek joined Golden and Mims with multiple hits, going two-for-four on the night.
 
Stiehl endured his shortest start of the season, going two and two-thirds innings before Tyler Robinson came on to complete the third inning. Will Jahn tossed three innings of relief, striking out three, while Sean Mellen struck out the side during the bottom of the eighth.
 
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Northeastern will look to avoid the three-game sweep against UNCW on Sunday, May 7, at 2 p.m. The Huskies will guarantee at least a share of first place in the standings with a victory.