The Northeastern Huskies (34-19, 22-8 CAA) took two of three games in a road series over Towson University (22-32, 9-21 CAA) May 14 to 16. The Huskies locked down a 7-0 shutout on Thursday before battling for a 8-7 win on Friday. On Saturday, they came up short of a sweep with a 14-10 loss.
It seems as if Northeastern pitchers have been trading statement outings recently. On May 14, it was Robbie O’Connor’s turn.
The redshirt junior right-hander fired a complete game with a three-hit shutout. O’Connor struck out two and walked one for Northeastern to blank Towson 7-0 and notch the top seed in the CAA North Division and a first-round bye for the CAA tournament.
The Husky offense wasted little time providing support, with freshman third baseman Tyler Harmony sparking the opening frame by reaching on a fielding error before senior designated hitter Matt Brinker brought him home with an RBI groundout.
The Huskies kept pressing, as redshirt freshman first baseman AJ Aschettino followed up with a single to left field for junior center fielder Ryan Gerety to race home. Aschettino grabbed second base on the play and senior right fielder Carmelo Musacchia swooped in with a clutch two-out RBI single for Aschettino to score and stretch the Huskies’ lead to 3-0.
Behind O’Connor, Northeastern’s defense was equally sharp. After junior right fielder Keldrin Rodriguez rapped the Tigers’ first hit of the day, Harmony gloved the next hit to erase the threat with a smooth inning-ending double-play across the diamond.
Musacchia walked to get on base at the top of the fourth before advancing on a single from freshman second baseman Charlie Criscola. On the next pitch, Musacchia raced to steal third and eclipsed 90 career stolen bases, becoming the program’s all-time leader.
Moments later, sophomore catcher Cooper Tarantino bounced an RBI single past Towson’s third baseman for Musacchia to race home and plate another run for Northeastern, 4-0.
Criscola added the knockout swing at the top of the sixth, launching his first career homer for the Huskies, a two-run blast over the right field fence to extend the Huskies’ lead to 6-0. Musacchia preserved the shutout effort in the bottom half of the inning, making a diving catch in right field to notch the Huskies’ third out and keep the Tigers at bay.
O’Connor made quick work in the bottom of the seventh and ninth innings, carving through Towson’s lineup in order. The UMass-Amherst transfer did so five times on the day, his strongest outing for Northeastern.
Harmony would open and close the scoring for the Huskies, plating the final run at the top of the ninth. The freshman singled before stealing second, advancing to third on a fly out and racing home on a wild pitch to seal the 7-0 shutout victory.
Friday’s win wouldn’t come as easily for the Huskies.
Senior right-hander Luc Rising started on the mound, turning in back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to keep the game scoreless into the third. In the top of the frame, sophomore shortstop Henry DiGiorgio doubled to left field before redshirt senior left fielder Harrison Feinberg drove him in with a clutch double. After racing to second, Feinberg made quick work to steal third before running home on a Towson error and handing the Huskies a 2-0 lead.
At the top of the fourth, the Huskies would double their lead. Aschettino singled to right field before advancing on a Criscola ground out. Musacchia then rapped a RBI shot up the middle to score Aschettino and get on first before stealing second and scoring on another grievous Towson error.
But the Tigers rallied for five runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. Junior shortstop Yariel Rodriguez and junior right fielder Brady Nathison both mashed two-run singles after the Tigers’ scored their first run on an RBI walk.
Freshman right-hander Cooper Maher stepped on in relief, forcing a groundout to end the inning with the Huskies facing a one-run deficit. Maher needed just six pitches to breeze through the bottom fifth, forcing three ground outs to keep the Huskies in the game.
The Huskies came back to tie the game in the top of the sixth thanks to an RBI single from Gerety that cashed in DiGiorgio. Brinker followed up, laying down a clutch check swing down right field for Harmony and Gerety to score and take a two-run lead.
Towson bounced back to tie it once again with an explosive two-run homer from Nathison in the seventh. Sophomore right-hander Andrew Rogovic stepped on to relieve Maher, and turned in back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the frame. Rogovic collected four strikeouts across 2.2 innings of work.
Brinker’s clutch factor couldn’t be contained. In the top of the ninth, he rapped a solo homer for the final run of the game, putting the Huskies up 8-7 as they notched their sixth consecutive win.
If you just looked at the score of Saturday’s game, you might think that football season had started early. And this was certainly not a pitcher’s duel.
Sophomore righty Andrew Basel got the start for the Huskies, but did not make it out of the first inning after letting up six runs. After Basel, eight other pitchers would take the mound for the Huskies.
Towson’s pitching was a bit more stable. Senior southpaw Matt Lynch went three innings for the Tigers, letting up three runs on six hits.
Towson struck early and hard. Senior catcher Brian Heckelman got the scoring started with a two-run blast in the first, another run scored on a wild pitch and then junior first baseman Jack Hughes hit a two-run homer followed by a solo shot from senior third baseman Ethan Brand.
Basel was pulled after that.
Towson kept the scoring going in the next inning. After graduate student right hander Andrew Sapienza walked the bases loaded, senior left fielder Max D’Alessandro hit a grand slam to bring the Tigers’ lead up to 10 to nothing.
Northeastern finally responded in the third when Gerety ripped a two-run double and was brought home by Brinker who hit a double of his own.
Towson brought their lead back up to nine runs in the next inning when D’Alessandro went yard to drive in another two runs.
Gerety responded in the fifth with a two-run homer of his own, and Northeastern cut the lead to five runs in the sixth when junior infielder Chris Walsh hit a solo shot and Gerety notched another RBI double.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the inning when Hughes brought D’Alessandro home with a sac fly. Nathison added another run with a solo homer in the seventh.
Northeastern scored three more runs, with Walsh hitting another solo homer in the eighth and a two-run shot in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.
Despite a stellar offensive day, Northeastern just could not dig themselves out of the hole they got in early and were not able to complete the sweep.
The Huskies will be back in action in the CAA tournament on Thursday in Wilmington, N.C. at 7 p.m.
