Husson athletics photo

COBLESKILL, N.Y. – The Husson University baseball team is headed back to the NCAA tournament for a fourth-straight year after securing its fifth-consecutive North Atlantic Conference championship overall and its fourth-straight title under head coach Chris Morris following a 9-1 win in the NAC championship game over SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday afternoon at Fighting Tiger Field.

Husson (23-10) found the scoreboard first in the home-half of the first inning, as sophomore Hunter Curtis singled home his brother, senior Jackson Curtis, giving the top-seeded Eagles an early 1-0 edge.

Cobleskill (18-23) found the equalizer in the top of the third inning, courtesy of an unearned run on an error from the Husson infield, which plated a run from third base.

Husson took the lead back during its ensuing turn at-bat behind another RBI from H. Curtis, as the sophomore plated Akira Warren on a sacrifice fly to right field and made the score 2-1.

The Eagles tacked on another run in the following inning, as this time it was J. Curtis who did the damage, ripping a single into center field to score sophomore Keegan Cyr, giving Husson a 3-1 advantage.

Freshman Matt Holmes provided a run for the Eagles in the bottom of the fifth, as he sent his sixth home run of the year over the right-center field fence and pushed the Husson lead to 4-1.

Four runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh inning pushed the Eagles over the finish line and firmly into the driver's seat, as a two-RBI double from junior Tanner Evans and a two-RBI single from freshman Kevin Connolly doubled the Husson score and all-but put the game out of reach for the Fighting Tigers to comeback from.

Another insurance run came the way of the Eagles in the bottom of the eighth, as Evans posted his third RBI of the contest on a single to center field that scored H. Curtis.

Senior Alex Smith got his fifth win of the season on the mound, lasting five innings and allowing just six hits and two walks, in addition to no earned runs and three punchouts. Sophomore Tanner Audyatis bridged the gap between Smith and senior Ryan Robb, hurling three innings of no-hit, no-walk baseball, while adding four strikeouts. Robb shut the door in the ninth after Audyatis allowed a lead-off base runner, walking one batter, but the veteran closer retired the other three hitters he faced.

H. Curtis and Evans led the Husson batters at the plate in the championship-victory, posting three hits each, while Evans batted in three runs and H. Curtis and Connolly sent two runners home each. Every hitter in the Eagles' order tallied one base-hit or more in the win, with the exception of Cyr, who drew two walks and scored a run.

Warren, junior Matt Wallingford and sophomore Colin Marshall all earned spots on the all-tournament team, while J. Curtis was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

Husson will not await its fate in the upcoming NCAA Division III tournament and will find out its opponent, game time and regional location on Monday during the NCAA selection show at 12 p.m., which can be viewed on the NCAA website.