STORRS, Connecticut — Anyone questioning D1 Baseball’s inclusion of Northeastern in its top-25 ranking for the first time this season was reminded once again what this Huskies side is capable of on a crisp spring evening Tuesday at Elliot Ballpark. NU walked onto UConn’s field and asserted dominance from the first pitch to the last, winning 7-1 behind a brilliant showing from Max Gitlin and a top-to-bottom showcase from the bats. The victory marks 21 straight for Northeastern, tying a program record set in 1991 and 2021 and extending the nation’s longest win streak.
While both teams earned baserunners in the first, the real offensive action did not begin until the top of the second frame. Designated hitter Matt Brinker led off with a ground ball single through the right side, the first hit for the Northeastern Huskies against UConn starter Jude Abedessa. The sophomore righty would not last long, as that one hit allowed them to quickly gain momentum.
Brinker stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. With one out, a walk and a wild pitch moved catcher Gregory Bozzo to second and brought third baseman Chris Walsh to the plate with runners in scoring position.
Wasting no time, Walsh mashed a double into the left field corner, scoring both runs and ending Abbadessa’s day. Back-to-back pitching changes got UConn out of the inning, but the damage was already done with Northeastern opening a two-run lead that would not change hands the rest of the evening.
After UConn went down quietly in the home half of the second, NU jumped on UConn right-hander Ian Cooke in the top of the third. Harrison Feinberg took the second pitch of the inning to the opposite field, knocking a double into the right field gap. Two quick outs and a stolen base later, Brinker was back in the batter’s box for the Huskies. He drove an RBI single into right field, pushing Northeastern’s advantage to 3-0.
The rival Huskies then each went three up, three down before UConn finally managed to strike in the home half of the fourth. After recording his third punchout against the leadoff hitter Daniels, Northeastern starter Max Gitlin allowed the first — and only — extra base hit of his evening to UConn first baseman Tyler Minick, who drove a triple high off the right field wall. Minick swiped home on a wild pitch, recording UConn’s lone run in the contest. Despite an error from shortstop Jack Goodman that gave Connecticut another baserunner to work with, Gitlin was able to stop the bleeding and maintain a 3-1 Northeastern advantage heading into the fifth.
Both sides went down in order in the fifth frame, bringing the heart of the (NU) Huskies’ lineup to the plate in the top of the sixth. Second baseman Carmelo Musacchia ripped a leadoff single into left field, but was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice after an infield ground ball by Brinker. The DH made up for it by stealing second, bringing Bozzo to the plate with a runner in scoring position. The catcher was ready for action, jumping on the first pitch of his at-bat and roping an RBI single into left field. On an evening where the dangerous top of Northeastern’s order struggled to get going early, the heart and bottom of the lineup came through with big swings to open up the initial advantage, as Bozzo, Brinker, and Walsh knocked in all of NU’s first four runs.
“We certainly rely on [Maldonado] and [Feinberg] and Goodman… But if Bozzo can get going, this lineup all of a sudden gets a little different,” said head coach Mike Glavine.
Gitlin set UConn down without incident in the home half of the inning, capping off a stellar six-inning showing that would ultimately go down as his eighth win of the season against just one loss. In six frames of work, the senior southpaw and ace starter allowed just three hits and one run while recording 5 K’s and no walks on an efficient 87 pitches.
In the seventh inning, both sides made a call to the bullpen, and Northeastern senior left-handed closer Jack Bowery and UConn sophomore righty Sean Finn entered the game seamlessly, allowing no runs through the frame.
Bozzo led off the ninth inning with a single to center field, advancing to second on a Walsh sacrifice bunt. With the top of the order coming around for NU, UConn head coach Jim Penders went to the bullpen again for sophomore JT Caruso, opting for a lefty-lefty against Northeastern right fielder Ryan Gerety. Gerety disrupted the plan by drawing a walk, and with two men on, Penders reached into his rotation one last time for senior right-hander Brady Afthim. UConn’s ace closer, Afthim had recorded 8 saves with a 1.32 ERA in 32 innings of work heading into the contest.
In the midst of an uncharacteristically quiet night featuring two strikeouts and no hits in the first eight innings, center fielder Cam Maldonado stared down UConn’s star arm with no fear and delivered a standup double into the right field corner, driving in both baserunners and extending the Northeastern advantage to 6-1.
“They pitched him really tough all night long,” Glavine said. “And then he comes up in a big spot there and delivers like he’s done all year. That’s what dudes do.”
A Feinberg groundout moved Maldonado to third, and he scored on a dropped fly ball that allowed Goodman to reach base before the end of the inning, putting the game further out of reach for UConn at 7-1. Bowery dispatched the heart of UConn’s order with no trouble in the bottom of the ninth, closing out yet another Northeastern victory with authority.
“I was really excited for this challenge — UConn’s a really, really good team. This game was a tournament game for us, and we needed it,” quipped a jubilant Glavine. “I thought we might have played our best game of the year.”
The Huskies’ record stands at 42-9 as they continue on their 21-game heater with momentum building by the day on their way to the CAA tournament later this month.
The Huskies will be back in action at Friedman Diamond on Thursday, May 15th with a 2 p.m. first pitch against NC A&T. Zeno Minotti, Patrick O’Neal, and Andrew Fielding will have your call on WRBB Sports+.