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MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – With its defense turning three double plays, the Northeastern baseball team found a way to outduel College of Charleston during Sunday's series finale at The Ballpark at Patriots Point as the Huskies edged the Cougars, 2-1.
 
Northeastern (19-13, 6-3 CAA) rode the strength of its power arms, Sean Mellen and Kyle Murphy, to victory as the lefty-righty duo lasted five and four innings, respectively, combining to yield four strikeouts and no walks.
 
Mellen scattered five hits en route to collecting his eighth win of the season (8-1), allowing fewer than two earned runs (one) for the seventh time during his nine starts this year. Murphy helped Mellen out of a sixth-inning jam before blanking College of Charleston (27-10, 9-3 CAA) the rest of the way, having now surrendered just one run during his last six appearances (13 innings).
 
Ryan Solomon put the Huskies in business during the second inning, driving Jakob Frishmuth's 1-0 pitch off the wall in left field and beating the relay throw into second base for a leadoff double. With Zach Perry aboard as a hit batsman, Michael Geaslen slapped an RBI single through the left side, scoring Solomon from second as NU took a 1-0 lead.
 
Northeastern tacked on a second run during the next inning, when Jake Farrell connected on a one-out triple to right center and scored during the next at-bat courtesy of Max Burt's RBI poke through the left side.
 
Mellen began his outing by recording eight straight outs until Tommy Richter spoiled the streak with his third-inning double down the first base line. The NU sophomore recovered, though, retiring four more Cougars in a row before Clay Hunt opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo homer that halved the Huskies' lead to 2-1.
 
In the wake of Hunt's homer, Charleston rallied to load the bases, but Northeastern's defense came to Mellen's aid, ending the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.
 
The Huskies' infield nearly turned its first triple play since 2016 during the bottom of the sixth inning, when NU had been facing Charleston runners at first and second base following back-to-back leadoff singles by Luke Morgan and Logan McRae. Upon Murphy relieving Mellen, Solomon fielded Danny Wondrack's ground ball along the left side and had a chance to tag Morgan out at third, but rather elected to start the 5-4-3 twin-killing.
 
Charleston threatened to blow Murphy's save during the bottom of the ninth inning after Wondrack and Hunt had knocked consecutive singles off the NU right-hander. However, Scott Holzwasser made a flashy catch in shallow center before doubling up Zach Williams at second base as the Huskies ended the game with their third double play, this time in 4-6 fashion.
 
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Northeastern is scheduled to travel to Harvard on Tuesday, April 17, for a 3 p.m. first pitch against the Crimson.