BOSTON – The fifth-seeded Northeastern baseball team will make the trek to Harrisonburg, Va., to participate in the 2013 CAA Baseball Tournament this week, it's first postseason appearance in four years. The Huskies (28-24, 12-15 CAA) finished the season on a high note, downing Towson, 6-3, on Saturday to secure its spot in the six-team tournament.
A rematch is in the cards for NU and TU as the Huskies and the fourth-seeded Tigers (25-28, 14-13 CAA) are set to square off in the tournament's opening game at 12 p.m. on Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Field
Defending conference champion UNCW (37-19, 18-8 CAA) took the No. 1 overall seed, followed by William & Mary (35-20, 17-10 CAA) in second. Delaware (33-20, 15-12 CAA) drew the No. 3 seed, in front of Towson and Northeastern, while host James Madison (24-28, 11-15 CAA) rounds out the six-team field.
The Competition
Northeastern closed out its 2013 regular season against Towson, earning the right to play the Tigers again in the CAA Tournament. The Huskies are 20-21 all-time against TU, including the 1-2 mark this season (the 6-3 win and losses of 14-1 and 7-6).
How They Got Here
The Huskies surpassed expectations in getting themselves to the postseason, after being chosen to finish ninth in the conference coaches' preseason poll. NU started out the season on an extended road trip, visiting the University of Houston, UT Arlington and five northern schools in the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. NU took the Snowbird championship, going a perfect 5-0 on the week.
On the conference front, after dropping two tough decisions at both Old Dominion and George Mason early in the year, NU was swept by William & Mary at home. In a 2-7 conference hole, the Huskies battled back through adversity, sweeping James Madison and claiming series victories over Hofstra and Delaware in the process. Though the Red and Black lost series to Georgia State, UNCW and Towson, the club was never swept again and finished out the year 10-8 in conference play after the get-go.
Tale of the Tape
In what was certainly a welcomed surprise for much of the season, NU ran the table as far as team pitching is concerned. The Huskies' staff put together a fantastic showing all around, finishing with a meager 3.62 ERA -- just behind W&M's 3.60 team earned run average for tops in the conference. No team gave up fewer hits (421), runs (217) or earned runs (184) than did Northeastern at the end of the regular season.
NU's stout weekend rotation included a duo that rarely wavered this season in senior
Kevin Ferguson and sophomore
Nick Berger. Ferguson (7-4) has had a career year, so far, striking out 89 batters in 97.2 innings of work. Berger Tossed 89.1 strong innings, earning six wins, four of which came in his last six starts.
Designated as the Huskies' closer and a senior co-captain,
Dylan Maki collected seven saves this season, near the top of the CAA, and claimed the Northeastern record for career saves (currently with 17).
The rest of the staff pulled their weight in earning important wins for the Huskies. Freshmen
James Mulry (2-3, 4.54 ERA) and
Nick Cubarney (3-4, 3.55 ERA) both split time as the Friday starters throughout the season and held their own in each of their debuts.
Senior
Matt Cook (2-1, 3.50 ERA) took the winning decision in the Huskies' Beanpot Championship victory over UMass, and sophomore
Isaac Lippert established himself as a key cog in NU's weekday rotation, earning a stout 4-1 record with a 3.60 ERA. Aside from routinely starting at second base, redshirt freshman
Michael Foster pitched 12.2 innings with a 2.84 ERA, going 1-1 and earning three saves for the Huskies. Another pair of freshmen in
Mike Fitzgerald (0-2, 7.84) and
Brad McLean (1-0, 4.66 ERA) also played important roles in relief this season.
At the plate, NU boasts a slew of solid bats and quick wheels.
Aaron Barbosa -- who set a Northeastern record for stolen bases in a career this season -- leads all Huskies with a .321 batting average and a total of 41 runs scored on the year. In right field, Barbosa has been stellar, corralling everything that came his way to earn the highly sought-after 1.000 fielding percentage. First baseman
Rob Fonseca came on in the latter stages of the season to get to a .313 average with 14 doubles, four home runs (tied for the team high) and 33 RBI this season.
At second base, Foster also has four home runs on the year and boasts a team-best 34 RBI to go along with a climbing .281 average. His 16 doubles is tops on the squad as well. At short stop,
Jason Vosler enjoyed a fast start and a stellar last series this season, compiling 34 RBI along with Foster. Vosler batted .258 on the year and owned an outstanding .977 fielding percentage.
At third base,
Pete Castoldi scored 22 runs and had 19 RBI, both career-bests. His game-winning hit against Georgia State in the bottom of the 13th inning was noted as one of the more exciting plays of the year, and gave NU an important conference victory. Behind the plate, co-captain and preseason All-CAA catcher
John Puttress had a solid year as well. The senior batted .266 with 19 runs and 18 RBI. With only 12 strikeouts in 169 at-bats, Puttress positioned himself as the 51st toughest batter to fan in the nation at season's end.
Connor Lyons enjoyed a spectacular season before being felled with an injury in the UNCW series towards the end of the year. Lyons was stellar in center field, boasting an error-less season, as well as at the dish. In 43 games played, the junior batted .294 with 29 runs and 19 RBI. Replacing him was brother
Sean Lyons for the final nine games of the season, and he finished with a .208 average, smacking a home run in his first start at UNCW.
In left field, newcomer
Brad Burcroff had a hand in producing runs for the Huskies as well, batting .271 with 32 RBI. Burcroff, who scored 27 runs, had 21 extra-base hits, including 15 doubles, three triples and three home runs.
Follow the Tournament
Fans can tune into free audio and video for every game of the Tournament via CAA.TV, along with the live stats. Followers are encouraged to visit the
2013 CAA Baseball Championship Central page for more information. A free login is required for the audio and video portions of the tournament and can be created by clicking
HERE.
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