Northeastern Edges Hofstra, 5-4, To Reach Fifth CAA Championship Game In Six Years
Rob Washburn
Box Score
WILMINGTON, N.C. (May 23, 2026) – Freshman AJ Aschettino homered and drove in three as second-seeded Northeastern edged #5 Hofstra, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon to advance the finals of the CAA Baseball Championship for the fifth time in the past six years.
The Huskies (36-20) will face top-seeded Campbell at 7 p.m. this evening and would need to beat the Camels twice to claim their second straight CAA title. Hofstra, which was playing its second game of the day, ended its season with a 22-29 record.
Aschettino went 2-for-3 with a double, homer and three RBI’s to pace the Northeastern offense, while Ryan Gerety was 3-for-4 and scored a run. Nick Biddle was the lone Hofstra player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Northeastern jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three. In the first, Harrison Feinberg was hit by a pitch and scored on Matt Brinker’s base hit to left. In the third, the Huskies loaded the bases with nobody out and plated runs on an Aschettino walk and a Carmelo Musacchia sacrifice fly.
The Huskies pushed their advantage to 5-0 in the fifth when Aschettino smacked a two-run homer to right. It was his fifth long ball of the year.
Hofstra cut into the deficit in the sixth, scoring three runs without getting a hit. The Pride took advantage of two walks and a hit batter to load the bases. A walk to Tyler Cox forced in one run and Michael Brown and CJ Griggs were able to cross the plate on wild pitches, pulling the Pride within 5-3.
Hofstra continued its comeback in the ninth. With two on and two out, pinch hitter Nathan Lynn singled up the middle to pull the Pride within 5-4. However, Northeastern closer Andrew Wertz fielded a grounder and narrowly beat the runner to the bag to end the game and earn his fifth save.
Ryan Griffin (7-2) picked up the win for the Huskies after holding Hofstra to one hit over 5.1 innings.