The Northeastern baseball team (23-16, 13-5 CAA) put on an offensive showcase against the North Carolina A&T Aggies (10-28, 3-15 CAA) April 17 to 19, sweeping the team in three games. 

Friday’s game was a strong showing both offensively and defensively as Northeastern gave up no runs and notched 10 strikeouts. The Huskies secured a mercy rule win in seven innings, scoring 15 runs. 

From the first inning, the Aggies were already in a hole. After CAA Rookie of the Week freshman third baseman Tyler Harmony led off with a single, junior center fielder Ryan Gerety walked and senior designated hitter Matt Brinker singled to load the bases. Redshirt freshman first baseman AJ Aschettino knocked the first pitch he saw to right field to send in two runners. Sophomore catcher Cooper Tarantino walked, and another two-RBI double, this time by freshman second baseman Charlie Criscola, sent Brinker and Aschettino home and put Northeastern up 4-0. 

In the top of the third, the Huskies added to their lead. After Brinker reached first on a throwing error and advanced on a balk, Tarantino was hit by a pitch before another costly error for NCAT put Criscola on base, scored Brinker and advanced Tarantino to third. Criscola stole second and sophomore right fielder Carter Bentley walked before the Aggies swapped pitchers. A sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Henry DiGiorgio scored Tarantino, ending the third with Northeastern up 6-0. 

After another walk for Harmony, redshirt senior left fielder Harrison Feinberg crushed a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Another fielding error put Gerety on base, allowing him to advance to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Gerety then scored on a sacrifice fly by Brinker to increase the lead to 9-0. 

In the fifth, Northeastern added another run on an RBI double by Harmony as he sent DiGiorgio home. 

After walks for Brinker and Tarantino, Bentley singled through the left side of the infield to send Brinker home. DiGiorgio then hit a ground-rule double to right center to score Tarantino and put Northeastern up 12-0. 

In the top of the seventh, Northeastern scored its final three runs before three consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the inning ended the game. A Feinberg single followed by a walk for Gerety put runners on first and second before a three-run homer for Aschettino brought the score to 15-0. 

Northeastern’s bats came alive for the second game as the Huskies picked up a 12-5 win over the Aggies.

Northeastern beat up on the Aggies pitching. Sophomore right-hander Jordan Bright started for the Aggies with a rough outing, letting up seven runs on four hits over 1.2 innings. Northeastern had a better pitching day, with senior right-hander Luc Rising who pitched six innings, striking out two while giving up three runs on five hits.

The Huskies scored a run in every inning until the seventh. The scoring started early when Brinker launched a three-run bomb over the left field wall. 

The Huskies forced a pitching change in the next inning after redshirt sophomore catcher Will Fosberg notched an RBI double and Harmony picked up his first career home run with a two-run blast. Northeastern added one more run after the pitching change when Feinberg stole every base, including home, on two wild pitches, to end the inning with a seven-run lead.

The scoring continued in the third. Senior right fielder Carmelo Musacchia hit the Huskies’ third homer of the game, adding two runs to the total. 

The Huskies made it to double digits in the fourth inning. Gerety started the inning with a lead off double, followed by a walk to Brinker and a Mussachia single to load the bases. A walk to DiGiorgio brought the Huskies lead up to 10 runs.

NCAT struck back in the bottom half of the inning. Redshirt sophomore shortstop JT Taylor hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to eight.

Northeastern shut them down in the top of the fifth with Gerety picking up an RBI. The Huskies picked up their last run of the game in the top of the sixth, thanks to a single from Bentley.

The Aggies picked up three runs in the next two innings with an RBI double from sophomore right fielder Bruce Wyche in the bottom of the sixth that helped NCAT avoid getting mercy ruled.

In the seventh, freshman first baseman Adrian Gonzalez picked up an RBI on a bloop single and ripped a ball to left to get the Aggies to five runs.

But Northeastern prevented a late game rally and did not let up any more runs.

Harmony continued to shine for the Huskies with three hits and a walk in five plate appearances. He flashed some power with his blast in the second and has been a difference maker since recently becoming a starter. 

Gerety also had a good day, picking up two doubles and three walks on six plate appearances. He has been a doubles machine this year, leading the team and conference with 15.

Rising picked his second win for the Huskies with a solid six-inning start. Rising let up three runs on five hits and was able to keep his pitch count down with only 68 pitches. 

The save went to freshman right hander Cooper Maher who pitched 2.1 scoreless innings. Maher was able to stop the NCAT rally in the seventh coming in for redshirt junior Joseph Hauser with two outs and ending the inning with a strikeout.

Northeastern completed a sweep against the A&T, taking a 15-5 win April 19.

The Aggies got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Junior left fielder Marcus Bradshaw was hit by a pitch to get on base before advancing to third one back-to-back bunts. Then, sophomore third baseman Boaz Harper grounded out to first base to bring in Bradshaw and give his team the 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third inning, the Huskies put up six runs to take a commanding lead. DiGiorgio  walked then advanced to third on a single by Harmony. Feinberg knocked in the team’s first run with a single through the right side of the infield before stealing second. Gerety was walked to load the bags for Brinker, who cleared the bases with a double to left center field. A hit-by-pitch to Musacchia gave the Huskies two runners on. Criscola hit a triple down the right field line to score both runners to bring the score to 6-1.

Scoring stalled for each team in the fourth inning before Northeastern had another high-scoring inning, putting five more runs across the plate in the top of the fifth inning.

Brinker led off with a double to left center field. Musacchia singled to first, advancing Brinker to third, before stealing second. Criscola singled to score both runners, then stole second. Harmony hit a two-run shot to right field to give his team the 11-1 lead. 

The Huskies continued scoring in the top of the sixth inning, extending their runs to 12. Gerety reached second on a ground-rule double and advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a wild pitch. 

NCAT got three runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting the lead down to 12-4. Two consecutive singles by Taylor and Wyche put two runners on for the Aggies. Bradshaw’s homer to right field brought the three runs across the plate. 

In the top of the seventh inning, Tarantino notched a solo home-run to maintain the gap between the teams. 

The Huskies put up their finals runs in the top of the ninth inning. Criscola continued a successful offensive game and led off with a single to first base. Tarantino was hit by a pitch before both runners advanced on a wild pitch. DiGiorgio’s RBI single brought in Criscola and put Tarantino on third. Finally, Harmony grounded out, allowing Tarantino to score and give the lead a 15-4 lead. 

The Aggies claimed the final run of the contest to make the score 15-5. Redshirt junior pinch hitter Jason Campo got on with a double to right field and advanced to third on a passed ball. Tuggle grounded out to score Campo before two quick outs gave senior right-handed pitcher Ryan Griffin his eighth win of the season. 

Northeastern will look to continue this momentum against the Hofstra Pride (13-20, 8-10 CAA) at Friedman Diamond April 24 to 26.