FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Susquehanna baseball snapped its mini two-game losing slide with a 6-3 win over Northwestern (Minn.) on Friday in Fort Pierce behind a complete game performance on the mound by senior Spencer Hotaling (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area).

The Eagles jumped out to an early lead behind a RBI triple and a passed ball to take a 2-0 lead.

Northwestern added another run in the top of the fourth with a RBI single that snuck through the left side of the infield to make it 3-0.

The Crusaders (3-4) had trouble getting their offense going early despite some hard line drives as the windy conditions held the Crusaders to just two hits in the first four innings.

Susquehanna got on the board with an RBI double in the fifth from Dylan Jenkins (Glen Mills, Pa./Bayard Rustin) that scored Dylan Glassmire (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South). Later in the same inning, Taylor Luckenbill (Pottsville, Pa./Nativity BVM) drove in a run with RBI single and Justin Cassinelli (Valhalla, N.Y./Valhalla/SUNY Westchester CC) followed up with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three.

The hot Crusader bats continued in the sixth as an RBI by Glassmire broke the deadlock to make it 4-3. Glassmire scored later in the inning after an error from the Eagles' second baseman that made it 5-3.

From there, Hotaling shut the door on Northwestern, giving up only three hits in the final three innings to grab his first win of the year. He finished with three runs on nine hits with 11 strikeouts.

The Crusaders got their insurance run in the seventh when Zach Leone (Pelham, N.Y./Fordham Prep/University of Massachusetts) hit a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring to make the finals score 6-3.

The Crusaders finish their week-long Florida trip Saturday as they take on La Roche at noon.