WILMINGTON, N.C. — Facing elimination, the Huskies secured their spot in the winner-take-all CAA championship game thanks to two superb victories over Hofstra and Campbell.
The former matchup finished as a nail-biting 5-4 victory to take revenge against the Pride, after losing to them 6-0 on Thursday in the postseason opener. Their second win of the night came a few short hours later when Northeastern took down the undefeated Camels 7-4 to force a final championship game.
Northeastern started their day with senior right-hander Ryan Griffin on the mound to start against Hofstra. Griffin returned the favor that Thursday’s Pride starter Nick Reese delivered to the Huskies, pitching 5.1 one-hit innings. Griffin was electric, going nine-up nine-down to start his outing, giving Northeastern some breathing room to take an early lead.
In the bottom of the first, the first pitch to redshirt senior Harrison Feinberg from junior southpaw Tanner Sanderoff would hit him on the knee to start the early offensive performance for Northeastern. Junior outfielder Ryan Gerety followed him up with a single to advance the runner, and senior designated hitter Matt Brinker would grab the game’s first RBI with a single to left field that scored the speedy Feinberg from second base.
Then, in the bottom of the third frame, Northeastern would load the bases on two walks and yet another Gerety base hit. With no outs, an AJ Aschettino walk plated the second run of the afternoon. A sac-fly from senior Carmelo Mussachia would score another to extend the Huskies’ lead to 3-0. Though an unfortunate base running mistake and a good assist from senior centerfielder Tyler Cox allowed the Pride to escape with only two runs given up, the damage had been done.
But the Huskies weren’t done mashing.
Aschettino continued his hot day at the plate with a towering home run to deep right field on the first pitch of his fifth inning plate appearance. Sitting on a fastball, Aschettino drove in two more runs with his big swing to grab a commanding 5-0 lead.
Ryan Griffin continued to deal, returning for a potential sixth inning of work. A four-pitch walk to sophomore Nick Gallello, the third baserunner for Hofstra at this point, would derail into a one-out bases-loaded situation.
In the first tricky situation for the Huskies of the game, Hofstra was able to capitalize. After a pitching change for sophomore righty Andrew Rogovic, Rogovic allowed all three runners credited to Griffin to score on a walk and two wild pitches. Rogovic would then finish the inning, keeping his own line clean, but allowing 3 runs against Griffin for a 5-3 ballgame.
Northeastern then called upon freshman Tom Mahoney to slow things down, and the game cruised into the top of the ninth, where Hofstra would face elimination if they couldn’t at least tie the score.
A single by sophomore Nick Biddle and a walk by Gallello put the tying run on base. An RBI single from the pinch hitter, freshman Nathan Lynn, down to their last out, would force Mahoney out of the game in a tight one-run game.
Graduate student Andrew Wertz took to the bump to secure the final out and the save, but the lineup had flipped over, and Hofstra got the game-tying runner into scoring position. With two outs, junior shortstop Michael Brown would chop at a bouncing grounder that Wertz collected, and with little hesitation, sprinted to first base to collect the out. A footrace with a photo finish would leave the Huskies victorious in their first game of the day.
Northeastern secured redemption and was headed to the championship game to face the one-seed Campbell Fighting Camels. The Camels entered this game undefeated in their postseason; therefore, the Huskies would need to win twice to earn the CAA title in the double-elimination format.
This game would start with a pitcher’s duel when freshman Husky Cooper Maher and senior Camel Connor Hensley would both toss zeros for the first four innings. Maher, in his first career start, added the decision win to his final line once Northeastern struck first in the fifth. After a Mussachia walk, redshirt sophomore catcher Will Fosberg would blast a ball 404 feet over the outfield wall to score Northeastern’s first pair of runs.
“That was big, obviously, for us,” said head coach Mike Glavine after the game. “Happy for him, he’s a hard worker, and he’s in there for his defense first, so when he gets a big hit like that, it just energizes the club.”
Northeastern would go on to spot five runs in the following sixth inning. Aschettino continued his big day with another bases-loaded walk, and hits from both freshman infielder Charlie Criscola and Mussachia would drive home four more runners to Northeastern’s largest lead of the day, notched at 7-0.
Campbell wouldn’t go down without a fight, however. The Camels would finally jump on Maher in the bottom of the sixth inning in response to the big half-inning from the Huskies. An RBI single by redshirt senior first baseman Joey Morton got their night started. A subsequent walk to load the bases and an RBI hit-by-pitch to sophomore Andrew Keller, in as a pinch-hitter, would end Maher’s impressive night.
Redshirt junior Joseph Hauser would escape the inning to limit the damage in relief, but Campbell gave him trouble in the seventh, when leadoff man sophomore Jett Music launched his 22nd home run of the season to score another two runs. Hauser was pulled right after and relieved by redshirt sophomore southpaw David McSweeney, a bullpen staple for the Huskies all season long.
McSweeney cruised through the seventh and eighth innings, reminiscent of Mahoney’s work earlier in the afternoon. But in the ninth inning, things got tight for Northeastern yet again. Two hit batsmen from McSweeney and a fielder’s choice brought the tying run to the batter’s box with only one out away. It would be Andrew Wertz yet again to come in for his second save of the day and third appearance in 24 hours. Wertz would slam home that second save of the day on a strikeout and groundout, securing the 7-4 final score.
The Huskies force CAA tournament Game 11, where they will look to finish the job in eliminating Campbell and secure a back-to-back conference title. Campbell will be thirsty for revenge, hunting down their first CAA title in program history.
Game 11 is currently scheduled for 2 p.m on Sunday, May 24. The CAA title is awaiting the victor, and Mike Kaminsky will have the call on WRBBSports+.
Michael Kaminsky is a rising junior at Northeastern, approaching his second year with WRBB. He values being a part of the broadcast team greatly and is always thrilled to cover games, especially his favorite sport, baseball. You can read more of his coverage with WRBB here.