By Jason Richland
CAMBRIDGE – Tuesday was a record-breaking afternoon for Northeastern baseball . In a rematch of the recent Beanpot loss, Northeastern baseball coach Neil McPhee won his 500th game with a 10-3 victory over Harvard University at O’Connoll Field in Allston. In the game, senior Chris Emanuele set a new record by collecting a hit in his 18th consecutive game for the longest hitting streak in the 85 year history of Husky baseball.
“I didn’t even know about it, really,” Emanuele said. “I am just seeing the ball and hitting the ball, trying to get hits for the team.”
Emanuele got the record-breaking hit on a double down the line in the first inning and he scored on a double by senior Tim Bush to put the Huskies on top, 1-0, in the first inning.
In the fourth, the Huskies piled on another pair of runs when Bush hit a solo home run and junior Brian Nutting walked with the bases loaded, giving the Huskies the 3-0 edge. What would end up being the winning run scored in the eighth when freshman Mike Lyon doubled to score sophomore Dan Milano.
Harvard defeated the Huskies 7-3 at Fenway Park to win the Beanpot trophy on April 21. McPhee ranks first in coaching victories for the Huskies, having surpassed his own former coach, John “Tinker” Connelly, in 1997.
“[Connelly] means so much to me,” McPhee said. “I still see him and his wife. He is a father figure for me. That part of it has a great deal of meaning to me.”
Connelly coached McPhee at NU from 1963 to 1965.
“Any milestones like that are very important for any coach’s career,” McPhee said. “I am one of those coaches who just thinks about how we are going to get in the tournament, how we are going to win the conference. Each time you win, it adds up. It’s a step towards our goal.”
The Huskies have been on a tear since the start of America East play, racking up a 12-4 record with a 9-3 conference record, good enough for first place with a half-game lead over Vermont, Maine and Binghamton.
Coming off a three-game sweep of the University of Hartford to open up conference play, the Huskies traveled to UMass-Amherst on April 13 and trounced the Minutemen 14-0.
Freshman Kris Dabrowiecki threw five shutout innings for his third win of the season and seniors Jim Madison and Tim Bush closed the door. Senior Jeff Heriot drilled a grand slam in the second inning.
The Huskies continued the road trip with a three-game weekend set with Albany. The Huskies won the first game, 3-2, lost the second, 3-1 and won the third, 11-10.
Sophomore right-hander Adam Ottavino earned his third victory in the first game with an eight and two-thirds innings effort, fanning nine batters. Emanuele scored on a passed ball for the winning run.
In the second game, senior Devin Monds got his first start since his no-hitter bid against Hartford on April 10, but he was knocked out in the fifth inning and was saddled with the loss. Heriot singled in Emanuele in the third for the lone run of the game for NU.
In the rubber game of the series, sophomore Dave Pellegrine started the game, but was cuffed around for nine runs, seven earned, in five innings on 10 hits, but Dabrowiecki pitched in relief and allowed just one run over the final four innings to earn his fourth victory. Heriot was the hero again for NU as he drilled a solo shot to break open the tie in the eighth inning.
On April 20, the Huskies faced off against Boston College in the first game of the Beanpot Tournament at LaLacheur Park in Lowell. The Huskies defeated the Eagles, 7-2, to advance to the championship round where they lost to Harvard.
Dabrowiecki won his fifth game with five innings of shutout baseball. Heriot, junior Matt Morizio and junior Jeff Maher hit RBI singles in a row as part of a five-run eighth inning to defeat Boston College.
The Huskies hosted a three-game set against Vermont on the following weekend. Northeastern won the first game, 3-2, behind Ottavino who whiffed nine batters and allowed just two runs in seven and one-third innings. Emanuele belted a two-run homer in the third inning and Milano clubbed a solo home run in the sixth for the game winner. The Huskies dropped the following two games, 5-0 and 5-1.
April 30 the Huskies traveled to University of Maryland-Baltimore County where they swept the Retrievers in three games, 5-1, 6-1 and 12-7. Ottavino won his fifth straight start in the first game, throwing a complete game and striking out 10. In the second game, Monds also threw a complete game and allowed just three hits. In the final game, the Huskies pounded UMBC pitching when they batted around in the third inning.
The Huskies will host a three-game set with conference foe Binghamton starting at noon on Saturday.
