BROOKLINE, Mass. -- Eric Cha and AJ Aschettino hit a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Huskies some insurance, and Andrew Basel tossed four scoreless innings of relief to earn the save as the Northeastern Huskies (7-7, 3-1 CAA) defeated the Towson Tigers (6-8, 0-4 CAA) 6-3 on Friday afternoon at Friedman Diamond in the Huskies' 2026 home opener.

Northeastern trailed 3-0 after a rocky second inning, but the Huskies answered immediately with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, and starting pitcher Robbie O'Connor settled in to work a full five-inning start. The Huskies scored all three runs in that inning without the benefit of a ball leaving the infield. Basel took over in the sixth and shut the door, retiring 11 of the 14 batters he faced and striking out four to set new career highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts.

• Towson struck for three runs in the top of the second, taking advantage of a pair of singles, a hit batter, and a throwing error to take a 3-0 lead. O'Connor worked out of the jam by getting a sacrifice fly and a groundout to limit the damage.
• The Huskies answered right back in the bottom of the second without hitting a ball out of the infield. Anthony Ruggiero and Carmelo Musacchia drew back-to-back walks, then pulled off a double steal to move into scoring position. After a Cooper Tarantino walk loaded the bases, AJ Aschettino worked a full-count bases-loaded walk to drive in the first run.
• Chris Walsh followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right to plate the second, and after Ryan Gerety walked to reload the bases, Harrison Feinberg singled to short to score Tarantino and tie the game at 3-3.
• O'Connor settled in after the second inning, retiring seven of the final nine batters he faced over the third through fifth, stranding Towson runners at second and third in the third by getting a strikeout and a popup to end the threat.
• The Huskies took their first lead in the fifth when Cha walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and scored on an Aschettino single to left for the 4-3 lead.
• Cha led off the bottom of the eighth by turning on the first pitch and sending it to left center for a solo homer — his third home run in as many games — to push the lead to 5-3.
• Two batters later, Aschettino launched one to right field, extending the lead to 6-3 and chasing the Towson starter.
• O'Connor earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the season, working five innings and allowing three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks on 90 pitches.
• Basel was dominant in relief, tossing a career-high four shutout innings to earn his second save of the season. He did not allow a hit, walking just one while striking out four — also a new career high.
• Aschettino led the Huskies at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a homer, a single, a walk, and three RBIs. Cha went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, a walk, and an RBI.
• Cha, Ruggiero and Musacchia each added a steal to the season total as the Huskies continue to run aggressively early in the season.

The series continues tomorrow, Saturday, March 14th at Friedman Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.