Northeastern Beats Campbell, 7-4, To Force Winner-Take-All Game For CAA Championship
Rob Washburn
Box Score
WILMINGTON, N.C. (May 23, 2026) – Second-seeded Northeastern jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held off a late charge from #1 Campbell to post a 7-4 victory on Saturday night at Brooks Field and force a winner-take-all game for the CAA Baseball Championship.
The Huskies (37-20) and Camels (41-16), who captured the CAA’s North and South Divisions during the regular season, will play a rematch for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Charlie Criscola was 2-for-4 with two RBI’s for Northeastern, while Carmelo Musacchia and Will Fosberg each drove in a pair. Four different Campbell players contributed one hit, with Jett Music smacking his league-leading 22
nd homer of the season and scoring twice.
Freshman Cooper Maher (6-1) earned the win for the Huskies in his first collegiate start. The right-hander retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced and allowed two runs on two hits over 5.2 innings while striking out four. David McSweeney provided 2.1 scoreless innings of relief before Andrew Wertz got the final two outs to earn his second save of the day and sixth of the season.
Northeastern ended a pitcher’s duel between Maher and Campbell’s Connor Hensley with a big blow in the fifth. Musacchia drew a two-out walk and Fosberg followed with his second homer of the season to put the Huskies ahead, 2-0.
The Huskies expanded their advantage with a five run in the top of the sixth. Northeastern loaded the bases with one out and a walk to AJ Aschettino forced in a run. Criscola singled to right to bring in two and Musacchia followed with a two-RBI liner to right center that gave Northeastern a 7-0 lead.
Campbell began to battle back in the bottom of the sixth. The Camels put their first two runners on and Joey Morton delivered an RBI single to left. Pinch hitter Andrew Keller was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, trimming the deficit to 7-2.
Music’s 418-foot two-run blast to left pulled Campbell within 7-4 in the seventh. The Camels brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Wertz came on and escaped the jam with a strikeout and a force play at second base.