ELIZABETH CITY – Northeastern rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to upend Hertford County 10-9 in extra innings here Friday night.

The Eagles used a three-run ninth inning to beat the Bears, who had scored two in the top of the same frame, in a Northeastern Coastal Conference contest.

HCHS had taken the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth after the contest was deadlocked at seven through eight innings.

Michael Burton singled to right and advanced to second and third on wild pitches. He scored on an Andy Thompson RBI-single to centerfield. Thompson went to second on a Ryan Matthews sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a William Barmer RBI-double to center, giving Hertford County a 9-7 lead.

Northeastern scored three runs to rally for the win. One run scored on an error before Will Meads had an RBI-double to tie the game and Kirk Norris had an infield single to propel the Eagles to victory.

Hertford County opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first frame.

With two out, Ryan Simmons doubled to right and scored on a Barmer RBI-single to centerfield. Courtesy runner Roger Harrison went to third on a Joel Britt infield single and scored on a Josh Lane RBI-single to right.

Northeastern answered with two runs in the bottom of the first, scoring both on a Bubba Tolson RBI-single, to deadlock the game at two-all.

The Eagles took the lead with one run on an error in the bottom of the second stanza.

Hertford County took the lead back when they plated three runs in the top of the third inning.

Matthews singled to left and stole second before scoring on a Simmons RBI-single to leftfield. Barmer had a bunt single and Simmons was able to score on the catcher’s wild throw by first base. The throw also sent Barmer to third.

Harrison, again running for Barmer, scored when Lane grounded out, giving Hertford County a 5-3 advantage.

The Eagles tied the game again, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Tolson had an RBI-double and another run scored on a wild pitch. Another run may have scored, but Simmons threw out a runner at home from centerfield, ending the inning.

The Bears took the lead with two runs in the top of the sixth stanza. Lane singled to left and stole second before moving to third on a Heath Britt RBI-groundout. Gary Porter walked. Lane scored on Burton RBI-squeeze bunt which also sent Porter to second.

Thompson singled on the infield and Porter was able to score on an error on the play, giving the Bears a 7-5 lead.

Northeastern answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

One run scored on an error before Tyler Stallings delivered an RBI-single that tied the game at 7-all heading into the final inning.

Thompson started for the Bears and pitched five innings, allowing seven runs. H. Britt pitched the final three and one-third innings, suffering the loss.

The Bears put together 17 hits led by Barmer, who was 4-for-5. Lane was 3-for-4 on the day while Thompson, Matthews and Simmons each checked in at 2-for-5. All nine starters had at least one hit.

&uot;This was a tough loss,&uot; first-year coach Chris Towell said. We just couldn’t hold the lead. Andy did a good job on the mound and Heath came in and pitched great, but we couldn’t get a timely hit to bust the game open.&uot;

The Bears fell to 3-11 overall and 1-7 inside the league. They will play a doubleheader today (Tuesday) at First Flight before hosting Northeastern Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in another league contest.