Northeastern Blanks Elon, 3-0
Rob Washburn
BOX SCORE CAA CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 25, 2016) – Northeastern pitchers Aaron Civale and Andrew Misiaszek combined on a five-hit shutout to lead the fifth-seeded Huskies to a 3-0 victory over #3 Elon in Game 3 of the CAA Baseball Championship on Wednesday night at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.
The Huskies, who upped their record to 30-26, stayed alive in the tournament and will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The Phoenix, who dropped to 25-29, were eliminated from the tournament after suffering their second loss of the day.
Civale, who improved to 9-3, surrendered just three hits over seven innings and lowered his league-best ERA to 1.73. The CAA Co-Pitcher of the Year fanned 10 to raise his CAA-leading strikeout total to 121, breaking the Huskies’ single-season record of 120 set by Adam Ottavino in 2006. Misiaszek recorded four strikeouts over the final two frames to earn his second save of the year.
Elon got a quality start from junior Jordan Barrett (3-6), who allowed three singles and a pair of unearned runs in seven innings of work. He struck out six and walked three.
Northeastern scored the deciding runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Jake Farrell reached on an error and Mason Koppens drew a two-out walk. David Hopkins delivered a single to right that brought home Farrell and Charlie McConnell followed with an infield single up the middle that plated Koppens for a 2-0 Huskies’ advantage.
Elon had its best chance to score in the top of the eighth. Ryne Ogren singled with one out and advanced to third when Nick Zammarelli doubled off the wall in the left. It was the 24
th double of the year for Zammarelli, tying the Phoenix season record. However, Misiaszek responded with back-to-back strikeouts to escape the jam.
The Huskies tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth on three walks and a hit batter.
Hopkins finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the NU offense. Four of Elon’s five hits came from the top of the lineup as Ogren was 2-for-4 and Zammarelli was 2-for-3.