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UNCW advances to CAA Championship Game over Northeastern on walk-off dropped pop-up

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•05/27/23
uncw-advances-to-caa-championship-game-over-northeastern-on-walk-off-dropped-pop-up
HOUSTON, TX - MARCH 05: Louisville infielder Noah Smith (14) catches a fly ball for the out during the baseball game between the Michigan Wolverines and Louisville Cardinals during the Shriners Children's College Classic at Minute Maid Park on March 5, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire)

There are a number of brutal ways to lose a baseball game, such as the walk-off home run. But on Saturday afternoon, Northeastern University lost their semifinal matchup against UNCW in arguably a much more painful way.

In the bottom of the 10th, with runners on first and second, Northeastern needed just one more out to get out of the inning and extend the game. The Huskies pitcher was able to force the Seahawks’ Kevin Pitarra into an infield pop-fly, which appeared to be a routine catch for their third baseman, Luke Beckstein. Unfortunately, likely due to the weather with reportedly extremely high winds during the game, Northeastern’s third baseman missed the catch, with the ball popping off of his glove and onto the ground. Simultaneously UNCW’s runner on second base was flying around the base path on his way to home. As soon as the ball hit the ground and Northeastern’s third baseman collided with their catcher, the Seahawks runner bolted for home, giving UNCW a 6-5 walk-off win.

You can see the exciting yet heartbreaking play in the video below.

Saturday’s action between Northeastern and UNCW was a continuation of Friday night’s game which was suspended due to the weather. And just like the weather played a role and Friday’s action, it played an even bigger one Saturday afternoon.

Picking up where they left off from the day before, the Huskies had a 3-0 lead in the 4th inning. Northeastern would add to their lead in the sixth, extending it to 4-0. In the bottom of the sixth, UNCW, the top seed in the CAA tournament, would go on a monstrous run, scoring five runs in the inning to take a 5-4 lead. UNCW would hang on to that 5-4 lead all the way until the top of the ninth. That is when Northeastern was able to tie the game up on a solo shot home run by Harrison Feinberg. And from there, that is when disaster struck in the 10th when Beckstein dropped the routine pop fly with one out needed to end the inning, giving the Seahawks the win and a spot in the final.

A chance for a rematch between the two teams is possible, as Northeastern will face Elon for the right to take on UNCW in the championship game. This will be another rematch for the Huskies as they eliminated the CAA’s number two seed.