The Huskies, featuring the nation’s top-ranked pitching staff, carry a 27-game winning streak into the NCAAs. Their bracket will be announced at noon Monday on ESPN2.
The Huskies celebrated their second CAA championship while looking ahead to the NCAAs. Photo by Jim Pierce/Northeastern Athletics
The Northeastern Huskies extended the nation’s longest winning streak Saturday with an inspiring and affirming comeback that delivered the ultimate reward — an automatic bid to the NCAA baseball tournament.
Trailing, 6-3, in the eighth inning of the Coastal Athletic Association championship game against their biggest conference rival, second-seeded North Carolina Wilmington, the Huskies exploded around a three-run double by tournament MVP Harrison Feinberg for a 9-6 victory that will encourage dreams of better wins still to come.
The top-seeded Huskies (48-9) have won 27 straight games while earning their program’s second CAA baseball championshi and setting a conference record for victories in a season.
The next destination for the No. 19 Huskies will be announced on the NCAA Division 1 baseball tournament selection show at noon EST Monday on ESPN2. Northeastern will be making its 11th appearance in the 64-team event.
These Huskies are strong in all phases of the game — including camaraderie. Photos by Jim Pierce/Northeastern Athletics
“It’s just amazing, hard to put into words,” Northeastern coach Mike Glavine told reporters shortly after his team’s CAA-clinching comeback in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. “You get emotional in these situations because you think of all the work that goes into it, from the opening team meeting to this moment right here.
“Nothing comes easy for our team. They have to work for everything and to see them celebrate and to win this the way they did — to see their enjoyment for each other, I can’t say enough about that. It’s just a great feeling.”
Exploiting their opening-round bye in the double-elimination tournament, the favored Huskies swept through their first two games — beating Charleston and UNCW by a combined 17-1 on Thursday and Friday. From the losers’ bracket, UNCW won a semifinal Saturday afternoon vs. Charleston, 6-5, advancing the Seahawks to a title game rematch that night against Northeastern.
Glavine recognized that competing in a pair of must-win games hours apart would be fatiguing for UNCW.
“We just had to keep it close, let’s keep fighting,” Glavine said of the Huskies’ early deficit in the title game. “We felt like the later the game went and the closer it stayed, that we had an advantage because of the bye and not having already played today.”
Incited by their 11-1 loss to Northeastern on Friday, the Seahawks seized a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the title game. The Huskies were trailing 5-1 in the fifth when their power duo of Cam Maldonado (double) and Feinberg (home run) combined for a pair of runs in the sixth.
Feinberg (four home runs and nine RBI in the tournament) dominated the title game while going 3 for 4 with two homers and six RBI — including an eighth-inning double that goes down as the biggest hit of Northeastern’s season.
“Feinberg was otherworldly, just unbelievable,” Glavine said. “He’s the same kid all the time, thank God. He brings it every day. He’s an incredibly hard worker, hard player, and the moment’s never too big for him.”
Lead-off singles by Jack Doyle and Ryan Gerety were followed by a walk to the intimidating Maldonaldo (.371, 15 homers and 59 RBI this season) to load them up with no outs for Feinberg, whose bases-clearing double to right-center tied the game while asserting the confidence of this special team. An ensuing two-run double by Carmelo Musacchia put the Huskies ahead for good.
“It’s just the togetherness,” coach Mike Glavine said of his championship Huskies. “They love baseball, they love each other.” Photos by Jim Pierce/Northeastern Athletics
Glavine’s program has achieved a high level of consistency over the past five seasons, going 197-83-1 in that span. This team appears to be the best of his 11-year career at Northeastern..
“It’s just the togetherness,” Glavine said. “I keep saying you can’t measure what we do with a radar gun or a stopwatch. You have to feel it. You have to be here. You have to experience the energy that they play with, the enthusiasm. They love baseball, they love each other and they work really hard and they care. It’s a blessing to be able to coach them.”
Brett Dunham earned a second straight save in the ninth while making the CAA all-tournament team alongside second baseman Musacchia, right fielder Gerety and semifinal starting pitcher Jordan Gottesman.
The champion Huskies (28-2 in conference play this season) woke up Sunday morning with the nation’s top-ranked pitching staff in earned run average (2.89), shutouts (17) and walks plus hits per inning pitched (1.04). They rank third nationally in stolen bases and staff ace Will Jones is No. 3 in ERA (1.82) and wins (11-0).
Three Husky starters rank among the nation’s top 17 in WHIP among Gottesman (fourth), Jones (16th) and Aiven Cabral (17th).
Next up is an NCAA tournament loaded with traditional baseball powerhouses. The Huskies have yet to win a game in six double-elimination NCAA appearances dating back to 1994. Glavine believes this group can transcend that past.
“Let’s do it,” Glavine said, launching into a pep talk while his players were just beginning to celebrate their comeback win. “What are we waiting for here? Let’s go, let’s keep this thing rolling, be the same team. The next game is our most important game of the season — whenever it is, wherever it is.
“Why can’t we do it? Why not us?”
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