Northeastern Edges Elon, 5-4, To Advance To First CAA Championship Game
Rob Washburn
Box Score
CAA Championship Central
Highlights
HARRISONBURG, Va. (May 25, 2018) – Scott Holzwasser’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth lifted top-seeded Northeastern past #2 Elon, 5-4, and into the title game of the CAA Baseball Championship for the first time on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Huskies (35-18) will meet #4 UNCW at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the conference championship and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Northeastern would need to beat the Seahawks twice to claim the title.
With the game tied at 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Charlie McConnell drew a walk, stole his school-record 36
th base, and then moved to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, Holzwasser lined a single to right that plated McConnell with the winning run.
Holzwasser finished 2-for-5 with a team-high three RBI’s, while Jake Farrell went 2-for-3 and drove in two for the Huskies. For Elon, Cam Devanney went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while James Venuto knocked in three of the Phoenix’s four runs.
Huskies’ closer Andrew Misiaszek (2-2) earned the win after tossing 2.0 inning of shutout relief. NU also got a strong effort out of the pen from David Stiehl, who gave up only an unearned run and one hit over 3.1 innings.
Elon jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the second when Venuto followed a Ty Adcock walk with an opposite-field, two-run homer to left-center. It was Venuto’s sixth home run of the season.
Northeastern responded quickly in the top of the third. Back-to-back, two-out singles by Ian Fair and Farrell set the stage for Holzwasser’s bases-clearing triple to the wall in center, tying the contest at 2-2.
The Phoenix used the long ball to move back on top in the fourth. Cam Devanney’s fifth homer of the year – a solo shot to left – put Elon on top 3-2.
The Huskies took their first lead of the contest in the seventh. With two on and two out, Elon fielders lost track of Farrell’s high fly ball and it dropped for a double. Mason Koppens and McConnell scored on the play to make it 4-3.
Elon battled back to tie the game in the eighth. Joe Satterfield singled to open the frame and advanced to third when Stiehl overthrew the first baseman on Adcock’s sacrifice bunt. Venuto followed with a grounder to first that brought home Satterfield and evened the score at 4-4. The Phoenix nearly grabbed the lead when Josh Broughton hit a sharp liner, but Fair was able to make a leaping grab at second base.
Elon had a final chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Garrett Stonehouse singled and was replaced by pinch runner Tyler Stanley, who stole second and raced to third when an errant throw went into center field. On an overthrow to third base, Stanley attempted to score the tying run but was tagged out at the plate.