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Northeastern baseball falls just short of upset of Mississippi State as Huskies are eliminated from NCAA tournament
Northeastern was far more competitive the second time around, staying within striking distance of Mississippi State until the final pitch.
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Northeastern’s baseball season came to an end Sunday. The Huskies came agonizingly close to an upset of Mississippi State in an NCAA Division 1 Tournament regional, but fell, 3-2, in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Huskies (49-11) earned their first NCAA tournament win since 1973 on Saturday, a 4-3 decision over Bethune-Cookman, which set up the rematch with the Bulldogs, who beat Northeastern on Friday, 11-2, in the double-elimination regional.
Northeastern was far more competitive the second time around, staying within striking distance of Mississippi State until the final pitch. After falling behind, 2-0, in the bottom of the first, the Huskies cut the deficit in half on an RBI single from Alex Lane in the top of the fifth.
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The Bulldogs quickly restored their two-run lead in the bottom of the frame, but Northeastern got back within a run when Jack Doyle drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. The Huskies had a chance to take the lead with the bases still juiced, but outfielder Ryan Gerety was frozen by a curveball for strike three to end the inning.
The Huskies got men on base in the eighth and ninth innings but couldn’t capitalize, as their dream season ended on an ill-advised delayed steal attempt from freshman Carter Bentley.
Junior Aiven Cabral got the start for Northeastern and allowed three runs on nine hits over four innings. He walked none and struck out one. Cooper McGrath and Brett Dunham followed with four scoreless, though McGrath allowed one inherited runner to score in the fifth.
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Host Florida State, the No. 9 overall seed, won the regional on Sunday night when it beat the Bulldogs, 5-2.
National No. 1 Vanderbilt ousted in record time
Griffen Paige gave up two runs on one hit across eight-plus innings, Boston Smith and Luke Arnold hit back-to-back homers early, and Wright State held off Vanderbilt in the ninth to knock the No. 1 national seed out of the NCAA Tournament with a 5-4 victory in the Nashville Regional on Sunday.
The Commodores (43-18) became the first No. 1 national seed to fail to reach their regional final since the tournament went to its current format in 1999.
Wright State (39-20), the No. 4 regional seed out of the Horizon League, played Louisville in the final later Sunday. The Raiders would have to beat the Cardinals in that game and again Monday to reach a super regional for the first time.
Paige (2-3) walked six, struck out two and allowed Brodie Johnston’s second-inning home run during his 113-pitch outing.
“Biggest game I’ve ever pitched in, and I showed up and went out there trying to get guys out, one out at a time, one pitch at a time. You can’t do anything else,” Paige said.
He went out for the ninth but issued a four-pitch walk to start the inning. That’s when things got interesting. Max Whitesell walked the bases loaded with one out to bring on Warren Hartzell, who had allowed three homers as Vanderbilt rallied late to beat the Raiders, 4-3, in Friday’s regional opener.
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Hartzell got a pop-out for the second out before Mike Mancini singled up the middle to cut the lead to 5-3. Rustan Rigdon then sent a ball deep to right center that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. Had the ball not left the field, Mancini likely would have scored the tying run on the play, but he was required to go back to third. RJ Austin flew out to right to end the game.
Vanderbilt was the fourth national seed to be eliminated and became the first No. 1 to get bounced out in regionals since UCLA in 2015.
Endicott plays on
Robbie Wladkowski’s two-run homer in the seventh saved the day for Endicott in Eastlake, Ohio, as the Gulls (45-5) came from behind to beat Kean, 5-4, in an elimination game at the Division 3 World Series.
The Cougars (41-11), who eliminated top-seeded Johns Hopkins to stay in the double-elimination event on Saturday, scored all their runs in the first two innings, aided by an AJ Hamm throwing error in a three-run first. Maynard’s Evan Scully and Jake Harmony (three scoreless innings of relief) kept them off the scoreboard otherwise.
Wladkowski’s team-leading 13th homer scored Peabody’s John Mulready, who had two RBIs, two doubles, and who picked Kean’s Dylan Falk off second base in the ninth following a leadoff single.
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Endicott faces Messiah, whose two wins at the series include beating the Gulls on Saturday, at 10 a.m. Monday. Should Endicott win, the teams would meet again at 4:45 p.m. for a berth in the best-of-three championship series.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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