Behind an impressive pitching performance and a two-run homer from Danny Crossen, fifth-seeded Northeastern rallied past #4 William & Mary, 3-2, in the opening game of the 2022 CAA Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Latham Park.

The Huskies (29-27-1) advance to the winner’s bracket where they will face either top-seeded Charleston or #2 UNCW on Thursday. William & Mary (26-22), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped, will take on the loser of Hofstra/Elon in an elimination contest at 11 a.m. on Thursday. 

NU sophomore Wyatt Scotti (8-3) earned the win after allowing two runs on only three hits over 7.0 innings. The right-hander limited the Tribe to just a single over his final 5.2 frames. Owen Langan and Jordy Allard each threw a perfect inning to seal the victory, with Allard earning his first save of the year.

Crossen delivered the big blow of the game in the top of the fourth, smacking a two-run homer off the flagpole in left-center that allowed the Huskies to erase an early two-run deficit.

The Tribe jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. David Hogarth reached on an infield single and came around to score on Joe Delossantos’ one-out double down the left-field line. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Delossantos crossed the plate on Tyler Solomon’s groundout.

Northeastern trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in third when Jeff Costello drew a two-out walk and scored on an RBI double to left by JP Olson. In the fourth, Justin Bosland opened the frame with a base hit and Crossen followed with his second homer of the season, putting NU ahead, 3-2.

Pitchers dominated the rest of the way. Northeastern didn’t have a baserunner after Crossen’s homer in the fourth as Tribe relievers Tom Mayer (0-1) and Nate Knowles retired the final 18 batters they faced. Starter Zach Tsakounis gave up one run on two hits in the first 3.0 innings. 

W&M generated just one hit over the final seven frames. Hogarth, who finished 2-for-3, opened the seventh with a single but the Huskies got out of the inning without any damage as Costello made a diving catch in right.