LAWRENCE, KS – Facing elimination, the Northeastern Huskies rallied for a 5-1 victory over the Missouri State Bears in a daunting loser’s bracket matchup at the Lawrence Regional. After falling to host Kansas in their regional opener, the Huskies survived another elimination game to keep their season alive.
Northeastern saw its first lead of the weekend early in the top of the first inning. Freshman Tyler Harmony opened the game with a walk before senior Harrison Feinberg singled to put runners on first and second. Senior Matt Brinker, after a rough 0-4 showing a day prior, made a statement with an early RBI double. The strong start would come to an end when a baserunning mistake by Brinker led to a double play to end the inning, but the Huskies still carried a 1–0 lead into the bottom half .
With an early 1-0 lead, Northeastern turned to redshirt junior Robbie O’Connor to contain Missouri State’s offense. O’Connor entered the game leading the NCAA in hit batters, and the light rain early in the game raised questions about his command.
O’Connor would shut down any doubts against him, turning in seven innings of one-run ball. O’Connor opened his outing by inducing a comebacker, a flyout, and a strikeout, setting the tone for his afternoon.
The 1-0 lead through five innings was hardly an indictment of Bears starter senior Jason Schaaf. After the opening frame, Schaaf settled in and tossed scoreless innings from the second through fifth, including an impressive escape in the fourth when the Huskies loaded the bases with nobody out. The opportunity came after Schaaf briefly lost command to begin the inning. But just as he worked himself into the jam, Schaaf worked his way out of it. A strikeout, a fielder’s choice, and a flyout would swing the momentum back to the Bears.
That was until O’Connor aimed to take that momentum back. O’Connor struck out junior Curry Sutherland on three pitches to begin the inning. Two groundouts around a single finished off another scoreless frame for the Northeastern starter.
Throughout the outing, O’Connor’s approach centered on attacking hitters and trusting the defense behind him.
“The game plan was just to attack, give my guys the best chance,” commented O’Connor. “I’m not a guy who throws 95, so I’m just trying to mix it up and get hitters off balance.”
Head coach Mike Glavine also credited O’Connor with regaining any momentum Missouri State had built.
Northeastern broke the game open in the top of the sixth inning when redshirt freshman AJ Aschettino led off with a rocket double to the right-center gap. It felt like a weight had been lifted from the team’s shoulders, as freshman Charlie Criscola would drive in Aschettino and replace him on second base with a double of his own.
With Schaaf still on the bump, senior Carmelo Musacchia unloaded on a first-pitch fastball, sending a 403-foot blast over the left-field wall. Northeastern took a 4-0 lead and knocked Jason Schaaf out for the afternoon. The first reliever of the game, redshirt freshman Ross Felder, kept the Huskies off the board for the remainder of the inning.
O’Connor’s day came to an end after back-to-back doubles from the Bears with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, their first real response following Northeastern’s big inning. He finished the outing with three strikeouts and no free passes across seven innings of one-run ball before handing the ball to sophomore Andrew Rogovic for his first appearance of the weekend.
Rogovic, with his lethal fastball-curveball combo, carved up the three Missouri State batters he faced. In only 15 pitches, Rogovic would retire the side with two strikeouts and a groundout to end his quick outing.
The Huskies weren’t done scoring. Harmony reached on an error, allowing Feinberg to drive him home with an RBI double. This capped off Feinberg’s impressive 3-for-4 day, bringing a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine praised Feinberg’s performance, particularly given an apparent hamstring injury.
“I can’t say enough about [Feinberg],” said Glavine. “He won’t let me take him out of the lineup. Three more hits today, and yet he is a shell of himself. I feel bad for the fans who can’t see him play the way he can really play. That kid is just a stud, just an animal. He is the toughest kid I have ever coached.”
Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine called upon definitive closer graduate student Andrew Wertz to close things out. In the aforementioned loss to Kansas a day prior, Wertz had allowed his first runs since March 17th. However, he returned to form, producing another scoreless inning, grabbing yet another hold in his sixth appearance in six straight Northeastern games.
With Arkansas dropping its own 5-3 game to Kansas, the Razorbacks fall into the loser’s bracket to face Northeastern in another elimination game on Sunday, May 31st.
Michael Kaminsky and Daniel Ku will have continued coverage from the Lawrence Regional with another broadcast on WRBB Sports+. Northeastern will look to keep their season alive against the Arkansas Razorbacks tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. CT.
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.