Northeastern baseball (10-8, 5-1 CAA) fell to the Merrimack College Warriors (8-8, 4-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) 4-3 March 17 before defeating the Brown University Bears (5-9, 0-0 Ivy League) 7-3 the next day.
Northeastern ended its four-game winning streak and took its first home loss this season to Merrimack March 17.
The Huskies got on the board first in the second inning. Freshman right-handed pitcher Chris Kiesiner walked freshman second baseman Charlie Criscola. After sophomore right fielder Carter Bentley flew out to right field, Criscola stole second base to give the Huskies a runner in scoring position. Redshirt sophomore catcher Will Fosberg hit a single up the middle, giving Criscola time to score.
Northeastern doubled its lead in the third inning, courtesy of redshirt senior left fielder Harrison Feinberg’s home run.
In the top of the fourth, redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Joseph Hauser replaced redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Ryan McCarroll. After two Warriors grounded out, senior first baseman Greg Cristino sent the ball up the middle, placing himself on first. Junior shortstop Brooks Craigue then singled to left field, sending Cristino to second.
On a wild pitch, Cristino and Craigue advanced to their next bases. Hauser then walked senior left fielder Christian Scanlon. Cristino found home on a passed ball, putting Merrimack on the board. The inning ended with a putout by freshman third baseman Tyler Harmony on freshman catcher Jack DePalma’s ball to third base foul territory.
The Warriors tied the game in the next inning. Freshman center fielder Brett McKinnon walked before stealing second and third base. After sophomore second baseman Matt DeShiro struck out, redshirt sophomore designated hitter Jack Andrews singled, sending McKinnon home. Andrews was caught stealing by senior shortstop Carmelo Musacchia from a throw by Fosberg. After walking another Warrior, Northeastern switched pitchers, bringing graduate student right-handed pitcher Matthew Sapienza to the mound. Sapienza gave up one single before a groundout ended the inning.
The Huskies regained their lead in the sixth. Musacchia singled to first before second base. Bentley walked before he and Musacchia pulled off a double steal to go into scoring position. Merrimack had a mound visit, and Northeastern took a timeout before Fosberg struck out.
Junior third baseman Chris Walsh then replaced Harmony as a pinch hitter. Back-to-back walks sent Musacchia home for a 3-2 lead. With runners on second and third, Merrimack changed pitchers from senior left-handed pitcher Zach Broderick to junior right-handed pitcher Michael Bradshaw. Merrimack ended the inning as Walsh got out at third base from a fielder’s choice off Feinberg’s bat.
Just as the end was in sight, Merrimack took the lead for the first time in the game at the top of the ninth inning.
Northeastern changed its pitching from junior righty Nick Coniglio to graduate student righty Andrew Wertz. With two outs already, Deshiro singled to left infield. Merrimack then replaced Deshiro with senior outfielder Chris Goode as a pinch runner. Then, on a costly throwing error by Musacchia, Andrews reached first and Goode took second. Graduate student right fielder Joey Frammartino then hit a double to right center, giving Andrews and Goode enough time to reach home plate.
The Huskies tried to avenge their lead in the bottom of the inning. After Walsh lined out, junior centerfielder Ryan Gerety walked, but on a Feinberg groundout double play, the game was over.
Northeastern bounced back the next day in Providence, earning two runs at the top of the first inning.
Gerety walked to first base before stealing second, and Feinberg was hit by a pitch, sending him to first. He and Gerety then advanced to the next base on a balk. Senior designated hitter Matt Brinker grounded out to freshman shortstop Matt Luigs, but it gave Gerety time to run home and Feinberg to reach third. Redshirt freshman first baseman Anthony Ruggiero reached first base on a fielder’s choice, bringing Feinberg home to bring the scoreboard to 2-0.
Brown got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Northeastern switched redshirt sophomore left-handed starting pitcher David McSweeney for freshman right-handed pitcher Cooper Maher. Maher first struck out senior third baseman DJ Dillehay before senior left fielder Logan Meusy reached first base on an error by redshirt freshman second baseman AJ Aschettino. Sophomore first baseman Christian Butera reached first on a fielder’s choice, and Meusy moved to second on an error by Musacchia: his seventh in just 18 games, tying the amount he had through 55 games last season. Senior center fielder Mika Petersen then singled, bringing Meusy home. The inning ended with Maher striking out two batters and Butera on third base due a Maher error.
In the next inning, Northeastern added to its lead. Feinberg singled but advanced to second on a throwing error by Dillehay. He then stole third and scored on another throwing error, this time by junior catcher Andrew Hanlon.
In the seventh, Feinberg scored again. At the top of the inning, junior righty Brenden Kline replaced sophomore righty Matt Wilmarth on the mound. Kline then hit Feinberg on the pitch, bringing him to first. Feinberg then advanced to second on a balk. A single by Brinker brought Feinberg to third. Finally, Ruggiero grounded the ball that turned into a double play, taking him and Brinker out, but Feinberg made it home to extend Northeastern’s lead to 4-1.
Brown replaced Kline with freshman right-handed pitcher Cal McBurney at the top of the eighth inning, but Northeastern still found success, adding two runs to the scoreboard.
Aschettino singled to left field and then advanced to third on sophomore catcher Cooper Tarantino’s single. Harmony took a sacrifice bunt for Tarantino to move to second and Aschettino back to home plate. Tarantino advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored off a Bentley single to end the inning 6-1.
Brown cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Angel Cruz replaced Maher. After a fly ball to Feinberg, Cruz walked Dillehay. Meusy then doubled to left field to put Dillehay in scoring position. Butera doubled down the left field line, bringing Meusy and Dillehay home to put the score at 6-3.
Northeastern earned one more run in the final inning. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Jake Plainte replaced McBurney. After getting Ruggiero out, Plainte walked Musacchia. Mussachia then stole second and third base. Aschettino sent a fly sacrifice ball to Meusy, bringing Musacchia home.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Andrew Rogovic ended the game, keeping the Bears from bouncing back in their final attempt.
Northeastern will look to restart its winning streak in the series against the Elon University Phoenix (9-11, 2-4 CAA) March 21 and 22 at Friedman Diamond.
