BOSTON -- The Northeastern University baseball team (16-14, 10-5 CAA) opens its defense of back-to-back Baseball Beanpot titles on Tuesday, April 7th as the Huskies travel up through Allston to face Harvard (5-16, 4-4 Ivy League) in the Beanpot semifinals at O'Donnell Field. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The matchup is a rematch of last year's championship game, which Northeastern won 5-4 at Fenway Park to claim its second straight Beanpot crown.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
1. THE REAL TOP DOGS: Northeastern took a huge CAA series from first-place Monmouth at Friedman Diamond last weekend, winning two of three behind dominant pitching performances in games one and three. On Thursday, junior Robbie O'Connor set the tone with six innings of one-run ball on four hits and eight strikeouts in a 7-1 win, with Cooper Maher earning the save. After Monmouth rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take game two 8-6, Northeastern came out swinging in Saturday's series finale. Starter Ryan Griffin was electric, striking out nine over six innings in his best outing since his dominant start at #2 LSU, and Andrew Rogovic tossed two spotless frames behind him. The offense backed its pitchers with a 13-1 run-rule win in eight innings, highlighted by AJ Aschettino's two-RBI double, a bases-clearing double from Ryan Gerety, and a Matt Brinker home run to end it. The Huskies went 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the finale after a tough Saturday in the stat. The series win pulls NU to within one game of Monmouth in the CAA North standings, and the two teams will meet again for another series in May.
2. SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: Harvard enters Tuesday's semifinal at 5-16 overall and 4-4 in Ivy League play after a grueling non-conference slate that saw the Crimson go winless in their first 12 games, including road series at Tulane, Rice, Liberty, and California Baptist. The Crimson have been a different team since Ivy play began, splitting series with Columbia, Cornell, and Brown — including a walk-off 2-1 win over Brown last Saturday behind seven strong innings from senior two-way player Gio Colasante. Northeastern holds a 52-72-1 all-time record against Harvard, including a 20-34 mark at Harvard, but swept all four meetings last season, including the 5-4 Beanpot championship victory. It'll be the first meeting of the two teams at O'Donnell Field since 2022.
3. DEFENDING THE BEANS: Northeastern is looking to become the first program to win three consecutive Baseball Beanpots since Boston College accomplished the feat from 2015 to 2017. The Huskies claimed their seventh and eighth Beanpot titles in 2024 and 2025, defeating BC 7-0 in the 2024 championship and Harvard 5-4 in last year's title game at Fenway Park. Northeastern holds an 11-7 all-time Beanpot record against Harvard and a 33-29 overall record in the tournament's 34-year history. Tuesday marks the first semifinal meeting between the two programs since 2023, when Harvard edged the Huskies 4-3 at Friedman Diamond. The other semifinal pits Boston College against UMass in Brighton, with the winners meeting in the championship later this month. Boston College leads all programs with 15 Beanpot championships, followed by Northeastern (8), UMass (7), and Harvard (5).
