Stony Brook at Northeastern
BROOKLINE, Mass. (Interstat) — Northeastern hosts Stony Brook on Sunday in the finale of a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series at Parsons Field, with the Huskies seeking a sweep after outscoring the Seawolves 27-3 in the first two games.
Northeastern (30-18) enters with a 10-game edge over Stony Brook (20-27) in the win column, and the Huskies have won four of the five meetings this season. The forecast calls for rain and 54-degree temperatures.
Luc Rising, Northeastern’s ace, is a player to watch after a dominant Saturday outing against the Seawolves: 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 earned runs, 5 strikeouts in a 15-0 victory. Over his last four starts, all wins, Rising has allowed one earned run in a combined 23 2/3 innings while striking out 26. He also tossed six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in a 10-1 win at Monmouth on May 2, and held Hofstra to one earned run over 5 2/3 innings on April 25.
Stony Brook will counter with John Rizzo, who had a rough outing Saturday: 4 1/3 innings, 7 earned runs, 0 hits, 3 strikeouts in the lopsided loss. However, Rizzo has been effective in other recent appearances — he pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in an 8-4 win over Massachusetts-Lowell on May 3, and allowed two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings in a 5-2 win against Monmouth on April 18. He also threw five innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts in a 12-11 win at Hofstra on April 12.
The head-to-head series has been one-sided since March. After splitting a two-game set at Stony Brook — a 4-3 Huskies win in 13 innings and a 7-6 Seawolves victory — Northeastern has dominated at home, winning 12-3 on Friday and 15-0 on Saturday. In Saturday’s game, Ryan Gerety went 4 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs, and Harrison Feinberg drove in four runs.
Stony Brook aims to snap a two-game skid and has shown resilience away from home, taking 7-4 and 12-10 wins at Saint John’s and Fairfield, respectively, in late April and early May. The Seawolves also swept a three-game series at Towson from April 24-26, outscoring the Tigers 32-14.
Northeastern has won four of its last five, rebounding from a 13-2 home loss to Hofstra on April 26 with an 8-6 win two days later. The Huskies’ offense has produced at least 10 runs in four of the past six games.
Interstat’s game simulator projects a close contest, with Northeastern winning 7-6.
Following Sunday, Stony Brook hosts Hofstra for a three-game set starting Thursday, while Northeastern travels to Connecticut on Tuesday before a series at Towson.