Fifth-seeded Northeastern jumped out to an early five-run lead and held off top-seeded Charleston, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon to reach the title game of the CAA Baseball Championship for the second year in a row. 

The Huskies (31-28-1), who suffered an 8-7 walk-off loss to #3 Hofstra earlier in the day, will get a rematch against the Pride for the conference title at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Northeastern would need to beat the Pride twice to claim the championship. The loss dropped Charleston to 37-19 and knocked them out of the tournament.

Sebastian Keane (5-5) earned the win for NU after surrendering three runs over 5.0 innings. The Huskies got an outstanding performance from their bullpen as Michael Gemma didn’t allow a hit in 3.1 innings of work and Thomas Balboni recorded the final two outs for his seventh save after entering with the tying run at the plate.

Northeastern needed just two hits to sprint out to a 5-0 lead in the second. The Huskies loaded the bases after Justin Bosland and Luke Beckstein were hit by pitches and Buddy Mrowka walked. With two outs, Jeff Costello brought all three in with a double to the gap in left center. Corey DiLoreto followed with a two-run homer to center to cap the big inning.

Northeastern tacked on another run in the fifth. Bosland was hit by a pitch and a two-out single by Mrowka put runners on the corners. Teddy Beaudet sent an RBI single through the right side to put the Huskies up, 6-0.

Charleston was able to get on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Singles by Tyler Sorrentino, Trotter Harlan and JT Marr loaded the bases with two outs. Designated hitter Landon Choboy came through with a two-run single to center, cutting the deficit to 6-2.

The Cougars crept closer in the sixth. Tanner McAllister opened the frame with his third homer of the season to left, making it 6-3. 

Charleston, which left 11 runners on base in the game, put runners on first and second with one out in the ninth. However, Balboni came on to end the threat with a flyout to center and a pop-up. 

The Cougars also got strong work from their bullpen as Cole Mathis limited NU to one run in 5.1 innings and Reed Parris retired all six batters he faced.