Mulligan Thrilled To Play D-I College Baseball Close To Home

Brett Mulligan RHP / SS / Catholic Memorial, MA / 2024

QUINCY, Ma. - The chance to go to college at Northeastern and play baseball close to home is a dream come true for Brett Mulligan.

“This is super exciting,” the Catholic Memorial High School senior said. “Northeastern has always been one of my top choices and I’ve always wanted to stay closer to home. I was excited to get an offer and I couldn’t turn it down.

“It really means a lot,” Mulligan added about being able to go to college just 20 minutes from home. “My parents can come see me play. It means a lot to me that they can come see me play.”

Ironically, the strength and conditioning coach at Northeastern, Jason Aguiar, played a major part in Mulligan's improvement in gaining interest from Division I schools.

“The summer going into my junior year I was topping at 83,” the 13th-ranked 2024 right-handed pitcher in Massachusetts reflected. “That’s when I went to Jason in the offseason. I put on 15 pounds which got me more explosive and in January I was 85-87. In the spring I was 85-88 and in the summer I was up to 87-89. The main thing was putting on weight and getting stronger.”

A camp at Northeastern last January is where interest began in the 5-11 170-pounder.

“I did well there but it was nothing serious,” Mulligan related. “After that they wanted to come see me pitch. I went to another camp at Northeastern with my summer travel team and I was 87-89 with a good curve. A week after I went to a team camp at BC and did well again. After that I got an offer from Northeastern and I committed 12 hours later.”

Bucknell, Lafayette and UMass-Amherst also had given offers to the 25th-rated senior RHP in New England but Mulligan believes Northeastern is right for him.

“It’s a super successful program, a good school and I know some of the players on the team, they come to Jason’s gym,” reasoned Mulligan about his choice to make a commitment to Northeastern.

The coaches at the Coastal Athletic Association university in Boston found a lot to like about Mulligan.

“The main selling point was my curveball and that I can throw hard,” the 75th-ranked 2024 in New England noted. “They like my arm strength and my athleticism on the mound.”

It was less than a year ago that the dream of playing at the next level became realistic according to Mulligan.

“I’ve always wanted to play college baseball, it’s always been a goal to play Division I baseball,” the 18-year-old said. “In February is when I picked up my first D-I offer from Lafayette and that’s when it all started. After that I started talking to more D-I schools.”

The recruiting process went as planned.

“It was pretty smooth,” Mulligan admitted. “It really wasn’t super stressful. Some camps helped me and I went to a PBR event in February with my travel team that helped.”
Coaches Matt Duffy and Brendan Morrisey are also credited by Mulligan with aiding his baseball journey that will continue close to home at Northeastern.

“I can’t wait to go to college,” the 38th-rated senior in Massachusetts said. “On the baseball side I’m looking forward to winning a CAA championship, and on the college side I look forward to enjoying college life in Boston.”

Business finance will be the college major for Mulligan, a 4.0 student confident about making an impact at the next level.

“I think I can bring them very good quality innings out of the bullpen,” Mulligan said. “I’m a good guy to be around and a good team guy.”