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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Cam Hanley's fifth-inning RBI single may have brought the Northeastern baseball team within three runs of UNCW on Sunday at Brooks Field, but a solitary NU hit the rest of the way left the Huskies unable to trim the deficit any further as the visitors lost the series finale, 7-3, against the Seahawks.
 
The defeat coupled with William & Mary's 2-0 victory on Sunday against College of Charleston relegated Northeastern (22-22, 11-7 CAA) to sole possession of third place in the CAA. NU will head into the final two weeks of the regular season trailing both UNCW (24-22, 12-6 CAA) and William & Mary (12-6 CAA) by one game in the league standings and begin a three-game set against the latter on Thursday, May 11.
 
Hanley logged two of the Huskies' five hits on Sunday, all five of which came against the Seahawks' starting pitcher, Logan Beehler, who lasted seven and one-third innings. Prior to his fifth-inning hit, the NU first baseman had legged out his fifth triple of the season during the top of the fourth inning, ripping a leadoff shot down the right field line and later scoring on Max Burt's sacrifice fly.
 
Mason Koppens bookended Northeastern's string of three straight scoring innings, which spanned the third through fifth innings. With two outs during the top of the third, Koppens knocked a single into left field and proceeded to steal second base, swiping his 14th bag of the year during his 17th attempt. Charlie McConnell followed with an RBI single into center, helping NU halve the Seahawks' lead at 2-1.
 
Two innings later, Koppens caught a fortunate break while leading off the fifth. With the Huskies trailing, 6-2, Koppens swung through Beehler's third strike in the dirt, but managed to reach first base safely on the wild pitch. After taking second base on McConnell's groundout to the right side, the NU junior came charging home on Hanley's RBI single to left, scoring before his teammate was thrown out in a rundown, 7-5-3-4.
 
Brian Christian rolled through the top of the UNCW lineup in order during the bottom of the first inning, but witnessed his day come to an end after four innings upon the Seahawks charting their third straight two-run frame.
 
Mason Berne opened the scoring for UNCW during the bottom of the second, knocking an RBI single into left field. Three batters later, Christian appeared to have stranded the bases loaded by capping the inning with successive strikeouts, but a balk called on his 3-2 delivery to Robbie Thorburn resulted in the Seahawks taking a 2-0 lead.
 
Daniel Stack raised UNCW's lead to 4-1 with a two-RBI double during the bottom of the third, the inning before Terence Connelly carried a two-out, two-run homer to center field, putting the home side in front, 6-2.
 
Casey Golden added a sixth-inning homer for the Seahawks off Andrew Misiaszek, who threw three and two-thirds innings of relief. Misiaszek and Christian each finished with four strikeouts apiece.
 
Jimmy Hand singled for the third consecutive game against UNCW during the top of the seventh. He led the Huskies with six hits during the series.
 
UP NEXT
 
Northeastern will head to Virginia Tech for its penultimate non-conference game of the 2017 regular season. First pitch in Blacksburg, Virginia, is set for 5:30 p.m.