BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton Baseball team won their 5th straight game, downing Ocean County College, 9-7, in a crucial Region XIX matchup on Friday at Spartan Park. 

CJ Peechatka (Henryville, PA/Pocono Mt. East ) got the Spartans on the board early, hitting his team-leading 8th homerun in the bottom of the 1st inning to give Northampton an early 1-0 lead.  The homerun was the 37th for Northampton this season, good for 6th in the country. 

The Spartans added 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, keyed by a two-run single from Tyler Melko (Knoxville, PA/Cowanesque Valley) and a RBI single from Tommy Dunleavy (Bushkill, PA/East Stroudsburg North).  

Trailing 5-0 entering the top of the 4th, Ocean scored 4 runs to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Northampton responded in the bottom of the 5th with 4 runs to take a 9-4 lead, as Melko and Dunleavy each laced RBI singles.  Melko finished 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, while Dunleavy was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. 

Ocean was able to tack on 3 runs in the top of the 7th, but Nicholas Klee (Reading, PA/Exeter) came on in relief of starter Noah Weber (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin) and earned his first save of the year, going 2.2 innings, allowing 0 runs on 3 hits while striking out 3 and walking one. 

Weber earned the win, improving to 6-2, allowing 7 runs on 11 hits, walking one and striking out 8 in 6.2 innings of work.

Peechatka led the Northampton bats with 3 hits, while Mike Ferrara (Cresco, PA/Pocono Mt. East) had a 2 for 4 effort at the plate. 

Melko's 3 RBI gives him 57 on the season, which currently ranks 3rd in the nation.  Melko has 95 career RBI, just 7 shy of breaking the all-time Northampton record of 101 held by Mike Tenaglia. 

The Spartans improve to 26-11 overall with the win and 6-3 in Region XIX. 

Ocean falls to 25-17 overall and 16-14 in the Region. 

Northampton ends the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Brookdale to face the Jersey Blues in a possible postseason preview.  The doubleheader is slated to start at noon at Johnson Field.