Topa was terrific in LIU Brooklyn’s series opener against Quinnipiac. The hard-throwing right-hander out-dueled Bobcats’ ace Derek LaMacchia for a 2-1 NEC victory. Other than surrendering a harmless double in the fourth inning followed by a solo homer in the fifth, Topa dazzled as he won for the third time in five NEC starts. He allowed only one run and three hits over 8.0 innings while striking out 13 Bobcats. The veteran righty retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced in what wound up being a 102-pitch outing. Protecting a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning, Topa encountered some minor trouble after a two-out infield single followed by an error put runners on first and second. Bearing down, the righty induced a groundout from Chris Migani to end the threat and handed the ball over to close Evan Zerff for a three-out save.