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HARRISONBURG, Va. – Trimming its five-run deficit down to just two runs against James Madison late during Saturday's CAA contest, the Northeastern baseball team nearly pulled off the comeback victory, stranding the tying run at the plate during the ninth inning as the Huskies were handed the 6-3 loss at Veterans Memorial Park.
 
Northeastern (13-10, 1-1 CAA) smacked 10 hits off the Dukes' staff but had difficulty bringing runs across the plate, leaving a grand total of 10 runners on base, including five during the final three innings.
 
Charlie McConnell went three-for-five to lead the Huskies, doubling twice: once during the very first pitch of the ballgame and again to kick off Northeastern's ninth-inning rally. In between, McConnell singled home Zach Perry during the seventh inning to put NU on the scoreboard for the first time, then stole his team leading, 16th base during Cam Walsh's ensuing at-bat, which also resulted in an RBI single.
 
In the wake of the Huskies' two-run seventh inning that had cut the JMU lead to 5-2, Ryan Solomon brought Northeastern one run closer courtesy of his eighth-inning, solo shot to left field, which moved him into a tie with Jake Farrell for the team's home run lead (four).
 
Although James Madison (14-11, 2-3 CAA) would tag a meaningful insurance run in response to Solomon's homer to lead, 6-3, the Huskies did not back down without a fight during the ninth inning. Ian Fair followed McConnell's one-out double with a base hit through the right side, allowing Northeastern to bring the tying run to the plate for its three- and four-hitters. However, Scott Holzwasser and Farrell were both unable to prolong the game as the Dukes held on to even the series.
 
Brian Christian struck out two JMU batters during his opening inning on the mound, but ran into trouble during the bottom of the third, where the Dukes rallied for three runs. Harry Brown drew a bases-loaded walk to put James Madison ahead, 1-0, before Josh Jones came through with an RBI single. Michael Morgan delivered the Dukes' third run on a sacrifice fly to right field, despite the Huskies' defense managing to end the inning by picking off Jones at second base on the same play, 9-2-6.
 
David Stiehl relieved Christian at the start of the fourth inning, collecting six outs from the first seven batters he faced, despite later surrendering a two-RBI double to Matt Dipasupil that provided JMU with a 5-0 lead through six complete innings.

Kevin Kelly tossed six and two-thirds innings for James Madison, striking out nine NU batters while scattering seven hits. Brett Ayer earned the save for the Dukes.
 
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Northeastern and James Madison will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday, April 1, at 12 p.m.