By Jimmy Brooks, News Staff
During the baseball team’s contest with Central Connecticut State University Wednesday, freshman outfielder Aaron Barbosa came one stolen base away from the all-time Northeastern record for steals in a season, and drove home the winning run in a tight game that came down to the last out.
Despite heading into the ninth frame deadlocked at 3-3 with the Blue Devils, Barbosa stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, singling home a runner to gain a 4-3 lead.
Freshman reliever Matt Cook shut the door on any potential CCSU comeback, blanking the Devils in the bottom of the ninth inning, despite allowing a one out single.
The win came at a much-needed time for the Huskies, who were not only looking to improve their conference record, 10-14, but their overall record, which sits at 16-29 on the season.
Barbosa’s stolen base puts him at 26 on the season, one shy of the 27 Mark Hopkins managed in 1994 when he set the Northeastern record.
Just a day earlier, Northeastern faced off against the University of Maine at Friedman Diamond. Despite playing on home turf, the Huskies could not come out on top, falling to the Black Bears by a final tally of 5-2.
Strong performances by sophomore starting pitcher Kevin Ferguson and Cook were not enough for the win, as Maine freshman catcher Fran Whitten blasted a three run walk off homer to solidify the Huskies’ fate, degrading the squad’s record to 15-29.
“Definitely a tough loss,” junior co-captain Matt Miller said. “We had plenty of opportunities to put them away, but couldn’t do it. Definitely a little disappointing.”
The loss was indeed tough, as the Huskies took another loss at a point in the season where they can nary afford it. Thankfully, however, the loss was not in conference play.
Just days before, the Huskies had the chance to improve their inter-conference record in a three game series against George Mason. In the first game of the series, Miller proved to be the hero, driving home freshman shortstop Oliver Hart on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning 5-4.
“I was just trying to make solid contact and drive it deep enough into the outfield,” Miller said of the sac fly to win.
The next day, the Huskies were not so lucky. Despite collecting a whopping 17 hits, the Huskies were unable to come out on top, falling to the Patriots by a final score of 12-6.
Freshman outfielder Connor Lyons played lights out, going 5-5 with three runs, increasing his average to .364 on the season. Yet, his individual performance was not enough to carry the Huskies to victory.
“We hit well,” Miller said. “We just didn’t hit with runners in scoring position, and that’s something [George Mason] was able to do.”
The Huskies had a 2-0 lead in the second inning, after sophomore infielder Ricky Salvucci drove home a pair of runners with a two out, two RBI single.
Unfortunately the Patriots answered to the tune of 12 runs over the course of the final seven innings, and the Huskies couldn’t rally. Pitcher Andrew Leenhouts struggled, giving up six runs in five of those innings. The lefty fell to 3-6 on the season, despite posting a solid 3.44 ERA.
Northeastern did lose to George Mason by a total of six runs, but the Huskies came back the next day and beat the Patriots by a bigger margin than they had lost by the day before.
Barbosa, Miller, sophomore catcher John LeRoux, and Salvucci each hit home runs, in a 12-5 victory over the Patriots.
Miller had similar things to say this time around, yet differentiated between the win and losses.
“That last game was more of the same, hitting wise,” Miller said. “We were able to hit with runners on scoring position this time around, and got four homers from different players. We just played more efficiently overall.”
Senior pitcher Brandon McNelis hurled five and a third innings, allowing four runs, enough to assure a Husky victory. The starter was never in threat of losing his lead; by the top of the sixth, the Huskies had already established a 10-3 advantage.
The Huskies now turn their attention to inter-conference foes, looking to go perfect in their remaining seven games this year. The squad will face off in a three game series at home against Delaware weekend before squaring off against UConn mid-week. Finally, the Huskies will host James Madison at home in their last three-game series of the year.
Every player on the squad now knows that these last few games will determine whether or not they clinch a spot in the CAA tournament. Yet, the mentality of the squad will not change at all.
“The goal all along was to win every game,” Miller said. “That’s the ultimate goal for any team, whether it’s realistic or not.”
