Box Score Mt. Pleasant, S.C. - No. 2 seed Elon (32-21) and No. 3 seed Northeastern (43-12) battled in a classic pitcher's duel Thursday on day two of the CAA Baseball Tournament, hosted by the College of Charleston. Elon's Charlie Granatell delivered a clutch RBI hit in the bottom of the seventh, but Northeastern would prevail by the final score of 2-1. 

How It Happened
 

• Both pitchers would work their way out of jams to start the ballgame. Both Northeastern and Elon would leave two runners on base in the first inning with both Sprague and Scotti using the strikeout to finish off the frames.
• Sprague and Scotti would scatter hits and walks in the first three innings of work, but no runs would come across for either side.
• That would change in the top of the fourth inning, when Mike Sirota singled home Gregory Bozzo to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
• Both pitchers continued to deal and see their pitch counts rise over 100 on the day. Sprague would retire six of his next seven batters following the RBI single.
• Elon would strike back in the bottom of the seventh. Following a Kenny Mallory Jr. walk, Connor Coolahan bunted Mallory Jr. to second base. After a James Broderick strikeout, Charlie Granatell delivered a line drive back up the middle with Mallory Jr. scoring from second on the hit to tie the score.
• The Huskies would score an unearned run in the top of the eighth inning to answer the Phoenix run and regain the lead.
• The Phoenix had no answer for Griffin Young as he struck out five of the six batters he faced and Northeastern would take Game Five of the CAA Championships, 2-1.

 
Notes and Stats
 

• For the second straight season, the Phoenix open their tournament schedule with a one run loss. Elon fell to Hofstra in the 2022 Tournament opener, 5-4.
• Shea Sprague threw a career high 117 pitches against the Huskies while scattering six Husky hits while striking out five.
• Justin Cassella had another multi-hit game, the third in a row and the fifth in his last six games. Over his last six appearances, Cassella is batting .538 (14-for-26) with a home run in four of the six games.
• Northeastern evens the season series 2-2 following Thursday's win against the Phoenix.

 
Up Next
 

• Elon will play in an elimination game Friday at 12:30 p.m. The Phoenix will play the winner of Friday's 9:00 a.m. game between Delaware and Charleston. With a win, Elon would move on to play Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a game to advance to the CAA championship contest.