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BLACKSBURG, Va. – Despite sharing in a 27-hit ballgame with Virginia Tech on Tuesday, the Northeastern baseball team had difficulty moving enough runners around the diamond to compete with the Hokies as the Huskies received a 17-5 loss at English Field.
 
Northeastern (22-23) set offensive highs in both hits (10) and runs scored (five) during its active nine-game road trip, which will continue on Thursday, May 11, at William & Mary (6 p.m.).
 
Jimmy Hand led the Huskies with three hits, recording his third multi-hit performance during his last four games. The NU senior helped Northeastern stake a 2-0 lead during the top of the second inning, following Max Burt's one-out single with a two-run homer to right field.
 
Two innings later, Hand logged his third RBI of the game, singling Zach Perry home from second base to bring the Huskies within four runs at 7-3. Perry had opened the fourth inning with his eighth double of the season and received the green light from third base coach Kevin Casey as Hand's line drive danced into left field. Hand and Perry combined to score four of Northeastern's five runs on Tuesday.
 
Cam Walsh joined Hand with multiple hits, going two-for-three in addition to being hit with a pitch. Walsh picked up his lone RBI during the top of the eighth inning, when he followed Jake Farrell's RBI groundout with a two-out single through the left side.
 
NU starting pitcher Tom Githens earned four outs from the first five batters he faced, but lost his momentum during the bottom of the second inning after an errant throw by Cam Hanley had provided Virginia Tech (21-27) with a one-out base runner. Matt Dauby proceeded to belt the first of three successive singles for the Hokies, the latter two of which plated the game's tying runs. Jack Owens then capped off the three-run frame for the home team with an RBI groundout that awarded Virginia Tech its first lead.
 
Dauby plagued Githens again during the bottom of the third inning. With one out and the bases loaded, the third baseman carried a grand slam to left field that widened the Hokies' lead to 7-2.
 
Although Northeastern would earn a run back on Hand's fourth-inning single, Virginia Tech answered it during the bottom of the inning, scoring on Sam Fragale's sacrifice fly. Fragale went on to hit a three-run homer during the bottom of the seventh inning and ended the game with six RBIs.
 
The Hokies tacked on two runs during the bottom of the sixth inning as Fragale and Nick Anderson notched back-to-back RBI singles against NU reliever Kyle Murphy. Virginia Tech added four more runs to its total during the bottom of the seventh inning and carried a 14-3 lead into the eighth.
 
Northeastern trimmed the deficit back to single digits courtesy of its two-run eighth inning, but Virginia Tech ultimately regained its double-digit lead, tallying three runs during the bottom of the eighth.
 
UP NEXT

NU will begin a two-day, three-game CAA series against William & Mary on Thursday, May 11, at 6 p.m. The Huskies and the Tribe will play a doubleheader on Friday, May 12, beginning at 3 p.m. to accommodate William & Mary's commencement the next day.