By Jared Shafran

The baseball team is winding down its 2008 season. After going a combined 7-11-1 last month, the team got off to a good start in May by edging the Hofstra Pride 2-1 in a three-game set.

The team is now seventh in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), and with six conference games left, the Huskies are fighting for a playoff spot.

Since April 14, the team has gone 8-6 overall and 4-5 in CAA play.

Heading into this weekend’s series, the team is only a half-game out of the sixth and final qualifying spot in the CAA Championship.

“Our No. 1 goal for the whole season has been to put ourselves in a position to get into the playoffs, and now we have a very good chance to achieve that,” said Huskies head coach Neil McPhee.

The team won two of three games against Towson April 19 and 20, then rebounded to beat Hofstra after being swept by Old Dominion April 25-27 in three games.

Senior shortstop Mike Lyon has continued his offensive brilliance for the Huskies. In the first game of a doubleheader last weekend against Hofstra, Lyon hit three home runs. The final long ball was a three-run walk-off shot that gave Northeastern the victory.

“Lyon is an example of a power hitter who can win a game by himself,” McPhee said.

Lyon has 12 home runs this season. His total of 30 career home runs puts him in fourth place on Northeastern’s all-time list. Lyon is also batting .361 with 39 RBI and has started all 43 Huskies games.

Junior catcher Frank Pesanello has also been an offensive standout for the Huskies. Pesanello has a total of 16 home runs this season, leading the team and placing him second in the CAA. With his 16th homer Tuesday, Pesanello broke the Northeastern single-season home run record, which was 15.

Sheldon McDonald has continued to shine on the mound during the last few games. He is 9-1 on the season with a 3.04 ERA in 18 appearances and 47 innings pitched. In the doubleheader against Hofstra, which Northeastern swept, McDonald picked up wins in both games. He came on in relief during the first game and started the second, pitching a combined 6 and 1/3 innings on the day.

“Sheldon has played his role as good as anyone can play it,” McPhee said. “We played pretty consistent baseball and had timely hitting.”

Most recently, the Huskies defeated UMass 6-4 Tuesday at Earl Lorden Field in Amherst.

Starting pitcher Les Williams gave up two runs in the first to put Northeastern in an early hole, but Trevor Smith came in to pitch four scoreless innings of relief.

The Huskies fought back and scored a run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, taking the lead 3-2.

But the Minutemen came back in the seventh, tying the game at three on a single by Ryan Franczek.

When Northeastern came to bat in the eighth inning, Pesanello came through when his team needed him most. Pesanello hit his 16th home run of the season; a deep, three-run shot to center field that put Northeastern in the lead 6-3.

“It was a great way to break the record,” McPhee said. “The entire team is so proud of him.”

Pesanello wasn’t entirely satisfied.

“It feels pretty good,” said Pesanello, who was 1-5 in the game. “I wish that I had a couple more hits to go along with it but the team won the game.”

As for the future, Pesanello is staying humble.

“I hope to improve on this season and keep getting better from year to year,” he said.

Dan Zehr and Bobby Carrington combined to pitch the last three innings and finish the game against UMass for the Huskies.

Zehr (2-4) picked up the win and Carrington recorded his second save of the season for the Huskies.

“The pitching lineup today was planned in advance and it went as well as you could expect,” McPhee said.

Northeastern is now 20-22-1 on the season and 9-14-1 in CAA play. UMass, fell to 16-22 overall.

“It was a very good mid-week win for us when we played against a good Division I team,” McPhee said.

The Huskies play their next game Thursday when they open up a crucial series in Virginia against William and Mary at 7 p.m.