By Erika Carrubba and Matt Foster

Freshman Trevor Smith struck out nine batters over five innings and senior shortstop Arman Sidhu hit a bases-clearing double in a six-run sixth inning to lead Northeastern over Holy Cross 9-2 yesterday at Friedman Diamond.

It was the first home game of the season for the Huskies, who are looking forward to more CAA opponents, coach Neil McPhee said.

“It was a good midweek game,” McPhee said. “We hit the ball well with two strikes and two outs and it’s something to build off of toward the weekend. Veteran players are doing what they’re supposed to do, but the key is to perform well in games that are bigger than this, such as conference games, or weekend games.”

Smith (3-0) was superb in the third start of his rookie campaign, holding the Crusaders scoreless while allowing just four hits and no walks.

“I’ve just been throwing strikes,” Smith said. “The more you throw good pitches, the more likely you’ll get outs. I used my fastball a lot today, especially low and away.”

Smith was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a Husky offensive outburst, highlighted by Sidhu, senior center fielder Chris Ema- nuele, freshman designated hitter Mike Tamsin and junior catcher Mike Milano combining to go 10-16 with seven RBI and seven runs scored.

Sidhu’s double off the left center wall was the key hit in the game, which scored sophomore third baseman Mike Lyon, senior second baseman Brian Nutting and Emanuele. The Huskies would add three more runs in the inning to give themselves a 7-0 lead over the Crusaders. The lead was miniscule compared to the size of the smile on Sidhu’s face.

“I felt real good today,” said Sidhu, who raised his average from .218 to .250 yesterday. “It’s been a couple of games that I haven’t been seeing the ball that well and the first couple of bats I couldn’t hit, but that one hit felt real good.”

The victory over Holy Cross was the second straight for the Huskies, who snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-6 win over Savannah State on Sunday. Milano drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to score Emanuele, who walked to start the inning.

“We’ve lost by one run in the past few games early in the season,” Emanuele said, “but I’m sure we’ll come around and we’ll get better than this as the season progresses.”

The Huskies built a 4-0 lead through the first three innings on a two-run blast from Milano in the first inning and a second inning left field home run from Nutting.

Northeastern built the lead to 6-3 in the seventh inning, but the Tigers scored three times off sophomore Kris Dabroweiecki (2-0). Smith came in to get the final out of the seventh.

Savannah pitcher James Mock walked Emanuele, Sidhu and Tamsin to start the inning. Milano drew the go-ahead walk to put the Huskies up for good.

Senior Matt Morizio got his second save of the season.

In a double header against Savannah State Saturday, the Huskies hit four home runs and scored six runs, but it wasn’t enough to win either game.

In the first game, Sidhu homered in the third inning to tie the game at one after Savannah jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Tigers came back in the bottom of the third, scoring two more runs off junior Adam Ottavino. Ottavino (0-2) gave up four runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two in the complete game effort.

The Huskies mounted a run in the seventh inning when Nutting singled and advanced to second on an error. Sidhu picked up his second RBI of the day doubling down the left field line to score Nutting. However, a base-running error by Emanuele ended the run and the game, 4-2.

“This past weekend we didn’t play well and we haven’t been playing our best,” Sidhu said. “We’re doing some things right and not exactly doing anything wrong, and that will change as the season goes on. Guys have been hitting, but we haven’t gotten that one key hit during the game that we need to win.”

In the second game, the Huskies got another complete game effort, this time from junior Dave Pellegrine. Pellegrine (1-2) allowed five runs, three earned on six hits. In the 5-4 loss, Northeastern got home runs from Emanuele, Tamsin and sophomore first baseman Josh Porter.