A day removed from an 18-6 blowout loss at home to Boston College, the UConn baseball team (10-13) was shut out at the Freidman Diamond in Brookline, Mass. by the Northeastern Huskies (15-8, 2-1 CAA) Wednesday afternoon.
UConn hoped to bounce back against another Boston-based team after getting embarrassed at Elliot Ballpark on Tuesday afternoon.
While right-handed pitcher Sean Finn had runners on first and second base, he was able to strike out the side in the bottom of the first inning. The sophomore from Warrington, Pa. had five strikeouts through the first two innings before being taken out.
Northeastern got on the board in the third inning with a sacrifice fly out to left center field by outfielder Harrison Feinberg, which allowed Wolcott, Conn. native Cam Maldonado, who walked along with Jack Goodman to lead the inning off, to cross home plate and give his team a 1-0 lead.
The fourth inning gave Northeastern a cushion with a two-run single by junior Carmelo Musacchia. He placed a bunt down the third base line and advanced to second base on a throwing error by Connecticut third baseman Tyler Minick. Freshman Eric Cha and senior Jack Doyle scored off Minick’s error.
Right-handed pitcher Ian Cooke took UConn most of the way with 4.1 innings pitched and a season-high seven strikeouts. He was on the mound for the final two runs scored of the game, but the loss went to left-handed pitcher Evan Hamberger due to the sacrifice fly.
Northeastern starting pitcher Max Gitlin pitched a near-perfect game, allowing just one hit and relying on his team’s defense to help make plays for him. Pinch hitter Sam Biller hit a double to right center field to spoil the perfect game for the Clark University transfer.
It would have been the second perfect game in college baseball this season. Ryan Rembisz pitched a perfect game as Portland defeated Seattle University on Feb. 25, 2025. A Big East team has not been on the losing end of a perfect game since Javi Salas pitched a perfect game against Villanova on March 4, 2014.
Gitlin bounced back from the hiccup with a pop-out and fly-out to finish his first complete game with Northeastern. Northeastern has had two complete game efforts in the past three games, with a seven-inning 10-0 complete game against Towson earlier this season.
Northeastern catcher Gregory Bozzo provided a strong outing, going 3-4 in the batter’s box. However, the most productive player on offense was Doyle, who went 3-4 and scored one run.
UConn has lost five straight games against Northeastern and has not come out on top since April 26, 2022. Despite the recent trend, Connecticut remains in front in the all-time series dating back to April 28, 1923, 59-23-1.
Up next for Northeastern is Stony Brook for a three-game series with the Seawolves in New York in CAA play.
As the conference preseason favorite, UConn dropping its final two games before Big East play begins does not make for a lot of momentum going into the weekend, where they will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on Xavier to wrap up March.