MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – After extending their winning streak to 25 games with a 6-0 victory over Charleston in their opening game of the CAA Tournament, Northeastern returned to the diamond to face arguably their toughest opponent since mid-April in the UNCW Seahawks. Yet, the Huskies trounced the Seahawks during Friday night’s mercy rule 11-1 victory.
The story of the night for the Huskies was their starting pitcher Jordan Gottesman, who was nearly untouchable from the opening pitch. Gottesman began the outing by retiring his first nine batters faced — seven of which came via strikeout.
Gottesman continued his pitching dominance through the majority of his start, finishing with 12 strikeouts, only two hits allowed, and one conceded run (a home run hit by Seahawk catcher Bryan Arendt in the seventh inning). He threw a total of 107 pitches to just 23 faced batters during 7.0 innings of work.
“Jordan Gottesman saved his best for tonight, he was absolutely unbelievable,” said Huskies head coach Mike Glavine after the game. “That kid has pitched a lot of big games in his life and this was just another game to him.”
Gottesman showed up for Northeastern when he was needed. His contribution was imperative for the Huskies when the score was within just a few runs through the sixth inning.
However, it was the offense, in the end, that boosted Northeastern to the mercy-rule victory.
The aforementioned Arendt homer cut the Huskies’ lead to just 4-1, but an eighth-inning offensive explosion gave the added insurance, and eventually the dagger – Carmelo Musacchia’s two-run shot that sealed the deal.
The Huskies had four home runs in the effort hit by Ryan Gerety (third inning to make it 1-0), Alex Lane (sixth inning, making it 3-0), Harrison Feinberg (eighth inning to extend the lead to 9-1), and, of course, Musacchia’s gamewinner.
The Huskies will await the winner of Charleston vs. UNCW for a chance to win the CAA Tournament on Saturday, May 24 at 5 p.m. Luke Graham and Zeno Minotti will have your call of the championship game on WRBB Sports+.
Luke Graham is the Digital Content Manager for WRBBsports. He also is a Northeastern Hockey and Baseball writer/broadcaster. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X here.