Northeastern's Cam Hanley scores the Huskies' first run against W&M.
NU Edges W&M 3-2 On Fonseca's Walk-Off Single
Rob Washburn
Boxscore |
Highlights
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 21, 2015) – Junior first baseman Rob Fonseca singled to left with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give third-seeded Northeastern a 3-2 victory over #6 William & Mary in Game 2 of the CAA Baseball Championship on Thursday morning at The Ballpark at Patriots Point.
The Huskies (25-28) advance to play #2 UNCW at 5 p.m. on Thursday, while the Tribe (22-29) returns at 1:30 p.m. to face #5 Delaware in an elimination contest.
With the score tied at 2-2, NU’s Gabe Levanti opened the final frame with an infield single. Michael Foster blooped a one-out single to shallow left and Keith Kelly was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Fonseca then drove a pitch into left, plating pinch-runner Mason Koppens with the winning run. It was the second consecutive walk-off victory in the CAA Baseball Championship.
Sophomore Aaron Civale (7-2) threw 3.2 innings of shutout relief to earn the win for the Huskies. Senior Jason Inghram (4-8) suffered the loss for the Tribe after giving up 11 hits and three runs over 8.1 innings.
Levanti finished 3-for-4 to pace NU offensively, while Fonseca, Pat Madigan and Maxwell Burt each had a pair of hits. Eight of W&M’s nine starters recorded a hit, with first baseman Matthew Tilley going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
W&M wasted no time getting on the board. Shortstop Cullen Large led off the game with a single, advanced to second on Ryan Hall’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Willie Shaw’s base hit up the middle to give the Tribe a 1-0 advantage.
NU drew even in the bottom of the second. Cam Hanley and Madigan opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Both runners moved up on a Josh Treff sacrifice bunt, and Hanley came home on Nolan Lang’s sacrifice fly.
The Huskies moved ahead in the fifth. Levanti doubled down the third-base line and shortstop Maxwell Burt followed with an RBI double to the left-field gap that made it 2-1. However, the Tribe quickly answered back in the top of the sixth as Tilley’s two-out single to right brought home Ryder Miconi to knot the contest at 2-2.