LAWRENCE, Kan. (Interstat) — Carmelo Musacchia’s two-run home run in the sixth inning broke open a tight contest and sent Northeastern past Missouri State 5-1 on Saturday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark in a playoff game.

The Huskies improved to 39-21, while the Bears dropped to 34-21.

Northeastern struck first in the top of the first. Harmony walked and Feinberg singled to center, putting runners on the corners. Brinker doubled down the left-field line, scoring Harmony and advancing Feinberg to third. The inning ended on a double play, but the Huskies led 1-0.

Both starting pitchers settled in. Northeastern’s O’Connor worked around a double by Bergman in the second and a single by Sutherland in the first. Missouri State’s Schaaf allowed only the one run through three innings, though Feinberg doubled in the third and Harmony walked with two outs.

The game remained 1-0 until the sixth. Aschettino led off with a double to right-center. Criscola followed with a double to left-center, scoring Aschettino to make it 2-0. Musacchia then launched a home run to left field, driving in Criscola and himself, extending the lead to 4-0.

Schaaf was replaced by Felder, who struck out Fosberg and got DiGiorgio to ground out before Harmony struck out swinging to end the inning.

Missouri State got on the board in the seventh. Ryan doubled to left field with one out. Bergman followed with a double to right-center, scoring Ryan and cutting the deficit to 4-1. Atkinson grounded out to shortstop, and the inning ended.

Northeastern added an insurance run in the ninth. Harmony reached on a fielding error by first baseman Kragel. Feinberg doubled to right-center, scoring Harmony unearned and making it 5-1. Sutherland relieved Felder and ended the inning.

Andrew Rogovic, who entered in the eighth, earned the win after striking out two and allowing no hits in one inning. Andrew Wertz pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit but stranding a runner on second.

Musacchia finished the game with a single, a triple, a home run and three RBIs. Feinberg recorded three doubles and drove in a run. Criscola doubled and scored twice. For Missouri State, Bergman doubled twice and drove in the lone run.

The Bears threatened in the second when Bergman doubled, but he was left stranded. In the fourth, Bogenpohl singled but was erased on a groundout. Northeastern’s defense turned a double play in the fifth to erase a Bergman single.

Northeastern pitchers combined to strike out six and walked two. Missouri State pitchers struck out 10 but issued three walks.

The game featured several defensive changes. Bentley replaced Brinker in left field in the seventh. Missouri State moved Gollert to left and Kragel to first in the ninth.

The victory avenged Northeastern’s 6-3 loss to Kansas on Friday. Missouri State had lost 9-5 at Arkansas on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Northeastern 8, Missouri State 7. Interstat’s ELO system gave Northeastern a 56.70 percent probability to win.