The Northeastern University baseball team (7-7-1) tied 1-1 with University of Massachusetts Amherst (2-4-1) in the first home opener of the season March 8.

After playing in the Penn State Tournament, the Snowbird Baseball Classic and a three game series against North Carolina State University over the past month and going undefeated, the team was ready to come home to play at Friedman Diamond for the home opener March 8. 

Northeastern’s baseball team consists of mostly underclassmen after the 2021 season saw 21 freshmen join the team. Entering the 2022 season, NU took on 10 freshmen, creating a predominantly younger team. Despite this fact, NU played a strong game against UMass in the team’s first home game. 

The teams had to play through four innings marked by sun and extreme wind before either team scored.

At the bottom of the fifth, Northeastern was able to finally score against UMass. NU redshirt junior infielder Spenser Smith’s ground-out allowed sophomore second baseman Luke Beckstein to advance to second base and score on an error. The error was in part due to NU redshirt senior outfielder Jeff Costello sending a hard-hit ball to third base, which caused a UMass bobbled catch.

After NU’s quick score in the fifth inning, the sixth, seventh and eighth innings all remained scoreless and neither team contributed any runs. 

UMass loaded the bases in the top of the ninth. UMass graduate outfielder Collin Shapiro stepped up to the plate to bat and eventually walked after not swinging on four pitches swung out of the strike zone by NU. Shapiro’s walk led to UMass senior pitcher and designated hitter Michael Rounds being able to score from third base due to the bases being loaded. 

NU entered the bottom of the ninth prepared to defend the team’s earlier lead and finish out the game as the winners. However, the game ended as a draw due to the darkness of the field. The final score of the game was 1-1. 

Northeastern’s baseball team traveled to play a three game series against Clemson University (14-1) March 11-13 where the team lost the first two games and won the last game. NU returned to Boston to win their next two games against Bryant University (3-9) and Merrimack College (2-8-1). NU will play a double header against College of the Holy Cross (3-14) March 18 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.