LAWRENCE, KS — After capturing its second straight CAA championship last Sunday, the first time in program history the Huskies had accomplished the feat, Northeastern headed to Lawrence, Kansas, for a regional matchup against the host Kansas Jayhawks, the Big 12 tournament and regular season champions.
Hosting an NCAA regional for the first time in program history, Kansas drew a crowd of 3,571 fans to Hoglund Ballpark, most backing the hometown Jayhawks. Kansas spent the week making renovations to its ballpark, including increasing seating capacity from 2,500 to 4,500, adding temporary bleachers for 500 additional fans on the third-base side, and replacing the left field wall with a chain-linked fence, nicknamed “The Backyard,” to let fans bring lawn chairs to enjoy the game.
In a projected pitcher’s duel, Northeastern’s Saturday starter, senior Luc Rising, toed the slab for the Huskies. After pitching twice during the CAA tournament, including a 10-strikeout performance against UNCW in an elimination game, Rising looked for a similar performance against the Power 4 team. Kansas countered with junior Dominic Voegele, a second-team All-Big 12 selection who entered the game with a team-leading 108 strikeouts.
After a 1-2-3 first inning from Rising, Kansas junior catcher Augusto Mungarrieta blasted the ball over the left field fence for a two-run home run in the second inning. Two batters later, senior Dariel Osaria added a solo shot of his own over the fans in “The Backyard” to suddenly put the Huskies into a 3-0 hole.
Northeastern responded in the top of the third with a solo shot of their own from redshirt sophomore Will Fosberg, but the deficit was extended back to three as junior Tyson Leblanc took Rising deep once more with a home run to the fans sitting outside the left field fence. Leblanc, one of the top college prospects heading into the 2026 MLB Draft, hit his 22nd home run of the season, a single-season record for the Jayhawks’ baseball program.
Leading off the top of the fourth inning, junior Ryan Gerety got things started with a triple off the 16-foot-tall batter’s eye. However, back-to-back strikeouts from senior Matt Brinker and redshirt freshman A.J. Aschettino quickly turned a prime scoring chance into a difficult spot , as a groundout or flyout wouldn’t be able to get the runner home.
With freshman Charlie Criscola at the plate, Gerety attempted to steal home while Voegele delivered a fastball. Mungarrieta applied the tag well before Gerety reached the plate, but Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine argued that Gerety was not given a lane to slide, prompting a review discussion with the umpires. After a lengthy discussion, however, the umpires ruled the play was not reviewable.
“They missed the call, and that’s just the fact,” said Glavine. “It’s a non-reviewable call, so there was a mistake there. You cannot step in front of home plate, and their catcher did. It’s clear as day.”
Kansas head coach Dan Fitzgerald saw the sequence differently, backing the umpires’ decision not to review the play.
“I didn’t think [the play] was reviewable, and I thought the umpires did a really good job of checking on that,” said Fitzgerald.
Northeastern still trailed 4-1 heading into the middle innings. With Criscola leading off the fifth with a double and Fosberg drawing a walk, sophomore Henry DiGiorgio hit a grounder to second that appeared to be an easy double play. Instead, junior second baseman Cade Baldridge threw high over shortstop LeBlanc, allowing Criscola to score while DiGiorgio reached safely and moved runners to second and third with one out.
Northeastern couldn’t fully capitalize, as freshman Tyler Harmony struck out and redshirt senior Harrison Feinberg grounded out to second to end the threat. The Huskies did add another run in the sixth, when Criscola grounded out to bring home Gerety.
With the score at 4-3, the Northeastern pitching staff needed to keep the deficit within reach for a potential tying push. Redshirt sophomore David McSweeney came in relief for Rising in the fourth and cruised to 2.2 scoreless innings.
Voegele remained on the mound in the seventh inning, fanning DiGiorgio and Feinberg to end a stellar outing with 102 pitches and nine strikeouts.
“[Voegele] had to work for every single one of those punchouts today,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s a very impressive Northeastern team. They are as disciplined a team as you can play against, and they’re so tough to put away.”
In the late innings, the Huskies called on graduate student Andrew Wertz to keep the deficit at one. With runners on first and second in the eighth, Leblanc lined an RBI single that deflected off the third baseman, Harmony. Baldridge followed with a base hit into center field for an RBI single to extend the Jayhawks’ lead to 6-3.
The Jayhawks gave the ball to redshirt junior reliever Boede Rahe, a member of the All-Big 12 first team, to close the game. With the home crowd roaring, Rahe struck out Fosberg to end the game, his third strikeout across two innings of work.
“We just got to have a short-term memory and go,” Glavine said. “We did this same exact thing last weekend … and [you have to] be able to move on to the next game, which our guys are really good at.”
Despite entering the game with 210 stolen bases on the season, the most in the country, Northeastern did not successfully attempt a steal, even though several attempts were disrupted by foul balls from hitters.
Last week in the CAA tournament, the Huskies faced elimination four times in three days after losing the opening game to Hofstra. They will face elimination on the national stage once more tomorrow.
Northeastern will have to turn the page to tomorrow’s matchup, as they will face Missouri St. at 1 pm ET in an elimination game. Daniel Ku and Michael Kaminsky will have the call from Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, KS on WRBB Sports+.
Daniel Ku is a rising fourth-year student at Northeastern University, covering Northeastern sports since 2024. Read all of his articles here.