BROOKLINE, Mass. -- The Northeastern Huskies (25-16, 15-5 CAA) held off a four-run Hofstra seventh inning to take Game 2 of the series by a score of 8-6 on Saturday at Friedman Diamond, with
Luc Rising earning the win and
Andrew Wertz recording his second save of the season. Rising highlighted his outing with an immaculate inning in the fourth -- three strikeouts on nine pitches -- as the Huskies secured the weekend series win over the Pride.
- Northeastern got on the board in the third when a Brinker single and Aschettino double set up a two-run frame on a Hofstra fielding error, with both runners scoring unearned. Criscola singled to extend the inning but the Huskies left two on.
- The Huskies broke the game open in the fourth, loading the bases with one out on singles by DiGiorgio and Harmony and a Feinberg RBI single that made it 3-0. Brinker singled home Harmony to make it 4-0, Aschettino was hit by a pitch to score Feinberg, and Fosberg capped the inning with a bases-loaded walk to score Brinker -- four runs in the frame to push the lead to 6-0.
- Rising worked 5.2 innings, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on six hits, walking none and striking out nine. His signature moment came in the fourth, when he retired Hofstra's next three batters on nine straight pitches, all strikeouts, for the immaculate inning.
- Northeastern added a run in the sixth when Aschettino singled, stole second, moved to third on a fielder's choice, and scored on a Criscola sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.
- Hofstra erupted for four more in the seventh -- a two-run single, a Danny Corona three-run home run, and a Melara triple left the bases loaded with the score 7-5 before Wertz came on and stranded the runner, keeping the lead at 7-5. Hofstra added one more later in the inning to pull within 7-6, but Wertz induced a groundout to end the threat.
- Brinker singled home Gerety in the bottom of the seventh following a Gerety ground-rule double to extend the lead back to 8-6, which is where the game finished.
- Aschettino went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Brinker was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Feinberg finished 1-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. Harmony was 1-for-6 with three runs scored, and DiGiorgio went 1-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and a run scored.
- Wertz (S, 2) worked 2.2 scoreless innings to close it out, retiring six of the final seven batters faced. Maher worked 0.2 innings in relief of Rising before giving way to Wertz.
Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Sunday, April 26th at 1 p.m. at Friedman Diamond, streaming on FloCollege.
