Northeastern's Pat Madigan hit a grand slam in the fifth.
Northeastern Rolls Past JMU, 19-9
Rob Washburn
BOX SCORE
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 26, 2016) – Northeastern banged out 19 hits and took advantage of eight James Madison errors as the fifth-seeded Huskies downed the #4 Dukes, 19-9, in Game 6 of the CAA Baseball Championship on Thursday night at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.
NU, which improved to 31-26, stayed alive in the tournament and will face #2 William & Mary in another elimination game at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. JMU, which defeated the Huskies 3-2 in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday, saw its season come to a close with a 24-31 mark.
David Hopkins led the Huskies’ attack, going 5-for-6 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI’s, while Pat Madigan was 3-for-4, crossed the plate three times and drove in five. NU had 10 extra-base hits in the contest, including a tournament-record tying seven doubles.
The Dukes also had a big night offensively with 13 hits. Designated hitter Kyle Weston was 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and Brett Johnson finished 2-for-5 and brought in two.
JMU took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Brett Johnson’s RBI single, but Northeastern responded with two runs on four hits in the bottom half. Madigan contributed a run-scoring single and catcher Josh Treff doubled to right to drive in one.
NU got a triple from Jake Farrell and benefitted from three Dukes’ errors to add a pair of runs in the second and then tacked on four more in the third. Cam Walsh lined a triple to right-center to drive in the first run of the frame and back-to-back RBI doubles from Max Burt and Hopkins increased the Huskies’ advantage to 8-1.
JMU sent 10 men to the plate and drew even at 8-8 with a seven-run fifth. Johnson drove in one with a double and Adam Sisk contributed an RBI single before eventually scoring the game-tying run on a wild pitch.
However, the Huskies went ahead to stay with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. The crowning blow was a grand slam by Madigan that put NU on top, 13-8.
Five more Northeastern runs came across in the seventh with Charlie McConnell and Cam Hanley providing RBI doubles.