Box Score | Season Stats | Infographic | Post-game Interview

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Doubles by Zach Perry, Jake Farrell, and Mason Koppens provided the icing on the cake to Aaron Civale's eight shutout innings on Thursday as the Northeastern baseball team blanked Towson, 4-0, at Friedman Diamond. The victory, combined with Delaware's 12-2 loss to UNCW, punched the Huskies' ticket to the 2016 CAA tournament, which will be held from May 25 to May 28 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (hosted by College of Charleston).
 
Civale worked like clockwork on Thursday afternoon, which took only one hour and 57 minutes to complete. The six-foot-two right-hander from East Windsor, scattered five hits, all singles, while striking out seven and walking none. He needed just 94 pitches to collect 24 outs as his season ERA dipped to a league-leading 1.84.
 
By taking the mound in the sixth inning, Civale broke Kevin Ferguson's single-season record for innings pitched from 2013 (104.1), finishing Thursday's game with a tally of 107.1. Civale also collected his 111th strikeout of the season during the last batter he faced in the eighth, bringing him nine strikeouts shy of Adam Ottavino's program single-season record (120).
 
Perry jumpstarted the Huskies' offense in the bottom of the fifth, taking the first pitch he saw from Towson's Skylar Morris down the left-field line for two bases. The NU designated hitter proceeded to take third on Farrell's fly ball to deep center and scored easily on Josh Treff's RBI single up the middle to give Northeastern (28-24, 11-10 CAA) a 1-0 lead.
 
Koppens mimicked Perry in the sixth inning when he used his speed to turn a flare to shallow right center into a leadoff double. David Hopkins then kept the NU bats alive by lacing a single to center, before Cam Walsh smoked a bouncer through the right side to send the Huskies in front by two.
 
Pat Madigan upped Northeastern's lead to 3-0 on a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Hopkins and moved Walsh up 90 feet to third. Two batters later, Farrell pulled an RBI double to right, scoring Walsh and awarding the Huskies a 4-0 advantage.
 
Once Civale had retired each of the six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings, NU closer Mike Fitzgerald picked up the final three outs in the ninth on eight pitches. Together, Civale and Fitzgerald wrapped up the game having recorded 11 consecutive outs.
 
Although Northeastern has clinched a CAA postseason berth for the fourth straight season, the Huskies can still finish as either the No. 4, No. 5, or No. 6 seed in next week's conference tournament. NU will open its run to the league title with a first-round game on Wednesday, May 25, at either 12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.
 
Northeastern and Towson (19-33, 9-13 CAA) will resume their regular-season series at Friedman Diamond on Friday, May 20, at 1 p.m. The Huskies will be wearing camouflage jerseys and hats as NU celebrates Military Appreciation Day.