WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- A ninth-inning rally fell just short as the Northeastern Huskies (28-18, 17-7 CAA) dropped the series finale to the Monmouth Hawks (25-19, 16-8 CAA) by a score of 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at MU Baseball Field. Despite the loss, Northeastern took the weekend series two games to one and the season series four games to two.
The Huskies took the early lead on a Cooper Tarantino RBI double in the second inning before Monmouth answered with five runs across the second and third to seize control. Ryan McCarroll stabilized the pitching staff with 4.1 innings of one-run relief, and Tom Mahoney and Andrew Wertz each delivered scoreless frames to keep Northeastern within striking distance. A two-out, two-run ninth inning rally cut the deficit to one with the tying run standing on first before a foul-out ended the game.
Tyler Harmony led the offense with a 3-for-5 afternoon, while Henry DiGiorgio and Harrison Feinberg each drove in a run in the ninth. Carmelo Musacchia added an RBI single in the sixth to keep the Huskies within two heading into the final inning.
- Northeastern drew first blood in the second inning when AJ Aschettino doubled to left and Cooper Tarantino followed with an RBI double to left center to score him for the 1-0 lead.
- Monmouth responded with four runs in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded and two outs, a grand slam to right field gave the Hawks a 4-1 advantage.
- The Hawks added another run in the third on an RBI single through the left side after a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third, pushing the lead to 5-1. McCarroll entered to begin the inning and allowed the one run before retiring the final batter on a strikeout to halt the damage.
- McCarroll was the story on the mound, working 4.1 innings of one-run ball to keep the Huskies in the game. He scattered three hits, walked one, and struck out three across his outing, retiring nine of the final eleven batters he faced. Mahoney worked a clean 0.2 innings in relief of McCarroll, and Wertz closed with a perfect eighth — the combination holding Monmouth scoreless from the fourth through the eighth.
- Northeastern chipped away in the sixth when Matt Brinker led off with a double to center, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on Carmelo Musacchia's RBI single to right to make it 5-2. Musacchia stole second but was stranded as the inning ended on a pair of groundouts.
- The Huskies mounted a rally in the ninth with two outs and nobody on. Charlie Criscola singled to right, stole second, and advanced to third on a balk. Henry DiGiorgio reached on a throwing error by the second baseman that scored Criscola, then Tyler Harmony singled to shortstop to advance DiGiorgio to third. Harrison Feinberg reached on a fielder's choice as DiGiorgio scored to pull within one, 5-4, but Gerety fouled out to the third baseman to end the game with the tying run standing at first.
- The Huskies stole three bases in the game — one each by Feinberg, Musacchia, and Criscola — pushing their nation-leading season total to 181. Feinberg's steal was his 38th of the year, breaking the Northeastern single-season stolen base record set by Charlie McConnell in 2018. Feinberg had tied that mark last season with 37 steals, and now owns it outright with games still remaining on the schedule.
The Huskies return home next weekend for a three-game series against Stony Brook beginning Friday, May 8th at 2 p.m. at Friedman Diamond. All three games will be streamed on FloBaseball and NESN+.
