The baseball team fell, 6-1, to non-league opponent Connecticut yesterday in a game that saw Northeastern send six pitchers to the mound to log innings before Thursday’s America East opener hosting Maine.
Paul Koslowski was touched up for four runs in the top of the eighth, on four hits and three walks. Despite the four runs, the senior lefty wasn’t hit particularly hard, one of the singles didn’t make it out of the infield, while two more squirted through the third base/shortstop gap.
Chris Emanuele accounted for the only Northeastern run when he sliced a triple down the right field line and scored when Tim Bush grounded a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Senior Jordan Thomson was saddled with the loss after giving up an unearned run in the first inning, his only inning of work.
“We had to be pleased with a lot of the pitchers today, they all threw the ball very well,” said coach Neil McPhee. “We are not swinging the bats real well right now, but it was a very tough day to hit.”
Dave Pellegrine, Tim Bush and Jim Madison combined to throw four scoreless innings in the defeat, while Matt Piryk went three strong innings — his first outing since last month’s exhibition against the Red Sox — allowing one run on three hits.
The Huskies concluded the week at 2-2, splitting a Sunday doubleheader against Hartford and picking up a victory over Maine in a game that did not count toward the America East standings.
“Two out of three over the weekend was satisfactory, we pitched well again, played fairly well defensively, the bats aren’t coming around,” McPhee said. “But it seems that nobody (in the league) is hitting; the games are all low-scoring, one-run games. It’s tough to hit when it’s so cold out, that’s part of it, but Hartford played very well (in Sunday’s game) they pitched very well, so you have to tip your hat when it’s warranted.”
The bats have gone into hibernation over the past two games, with the Huskies managing only two runs over the past 16 innings. In the second half of the Hartford doubleheader the lack of offensive production cost freshman hurler Adam Ottavino a win after he went the complete-game seven innings, giving up a single run on four hits. Tapped as The News’ Player of the Week, Ottaviano held the Hawks hitless for 4 2/3 innings to start the game. The only run came when leadoff hitter Matt Denorfia drew a bases-loaded walk.
“We aren’t getting hits in bunches,” McPhee said. “If you look at each game we’ve had hard hit balls, a little bit more than our share, that aren’t finding gaps, and that’ll start to happen. We’re just expecting that the hitters will come alive.”
“Our hitters get the job done when it counts,” said senior pitcher Justin Hedrick. “Everyone slumps at some point in the season, and I have no doubt everyone will come to play this weekend (in the conference opener vs. Maine).”
Despite some trouble at the plate, McPhee was satisfied with his team’s handling of the other aspects of the game.
“The game starts with pitching and defense, those two areas have been our strength at this point,” he said. “Pitching is the strength of the team, it’s the name of the game, and whenever you get the kind of pitching we’ve been getting you have to be satisfied with that. Generally speaking, in the game of baseball, hitting comes last, especially at this time of year. That doesn’t mean we aren’t concerned that we’re not bunching our hits, everyone is concerned, but not worried about it.”
In the first game with Hartford, Justin Hedrick spread eight hits over seven innings to record the 5-3 victory. Bush and senior Brad Czarnowski both went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Bush notched his third home run of the season, a two-run jack to left field that gave the Huskies a 5-1 advantage heading into the fourth. Although Hedrick gave up a two-run homer to dead center in the top of the fifth, he was able to go the distance with the help of Emanuele, who robbed Denorfia a home run in the top of the seventh that would have tied the game. Emanuel, who had just been moved to right field that inning, went all the way back to the fence to record the final out in dramatic fashion. The win moves Hedrick to 3-1 for the season and his six strike outs give him a conference-leading 41, while his 1.89 ERA is good for second.
In Sunday’s duel with Maine, junior Miguel Paquette blasted his third home run of the season into the right field stands to plate himself and Tim Bush, who had reached base via single, and opened up a 3-0 lead. NU would eventually hold on to win 3-2.
Bush crossed the plate for the first Husky run in the second inning, scoring from third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of shortstop Arman Sidhu.
The Huskies will host the Black Bears again this weekend, with a doubleheader Saturday and a third game on Sunday. All games start at noon.
“It’s great starting off against Maine,” said Hedrick. “They are our archrival, so it can’t get any better than that. It’s the best kick in the butt possible, opening up with the biggest rivalry in the America East.”
