UNCW's Luke Dunlap (#24) celebrates his first homer against NU.
Dunlap Homers Twice As UNCW Tops NU, 16-7
Rob Washburn
Boxscore |
Highlights
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 21, 2015) – Junior Luke Dunlap homered twice and drove in five as part of an 18-hit UNCW onslaught, leading the second-seeded Seahawks past #3 Northeastern 16-7 in Game 4 of the CAA Baseball Championship on Thursday evening at The Ballpark at Patriots Point.
The Seahawks (37-16) advance to Friday’s 1:30 p.m. winner’s bracket game against either College of Charleston or Elon. The Huskies (25-29) will play an elimination contest at either 10 a.m. or 5 p.m. on Friday.
Eight of UNCW’s nine starters had multiple hits and the 16 runs were the second-highest total for the Seahawks this season. To go along with Dunlap, junior outfielder Zach Shields went 3-for-5 with two RBI and sophomore outfielder Casey Golden was 3-for-6 and knocked in three.
Northeastern also had a big effort offensively with 13 hits, including a tournament-record tying seven doubles. Third baseman Cam Hanley was 3-for-4 and matched an event record with three doubles, while outfielder Michael Foster doubled twice in a 3-for-5 outing and also had two RBI and two runs scored.
Freshman lefty Whitman Barnes (5-0) came out of the bullpen to pick up the victory for UNCW, surrendering two runs on six hits over five innings. Starter Dustin Hunt (5-5) took the loss for NU.
NU got on the board in the top of the first. Foster laced a leadoff double to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Keith Kelly’s grounder to second.
UNCW responded with four runs in the second. Corey Dick reached on an error to start the frame and Dunlap followed with a two-run homer over the wall in right. The Seahawks plated two more with two outs when Shields and Golden delivered back-to-back RBI singles.
The Huskies got a run back in the third as Hanley’s double down the left-field line brought home Foster, but the Seahawks exploded for five more runs on six hits in the bottom of the inning. Third baseman Terence Connelly got things started with an RBI triple into the right-field corner and he scored on a groundout to make it 6-2. UNCW strung together six consecutive two-out singles, with Shields knocking in one and Golden driving in a pair to increase the Seahawks’ advantage to seven.
Northeastern answered in the top of the fourth. Gabe Levanti’s double to left-center brought home Josh Treff. After Maxwell Burt reached on a fielder’s choice, Foster smacked a two-run double – his second of the game – into the left-field corner to bring the Huskies within 9-6.
However, that would be as close as Northeastern would get. UNCW tacked on a run in the sixth and blew the game open with five more in the seventh as Kennard McDowell hit a solo homer and Dunlap launched a three-run shot to left to increase his season total to five.
UNCW capped its scoring with an RBI double by Steven Linkous in the eighth. The Huskies added a run in the ninth as Treff’s single brought in Hanley.