By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, News Correspondent
The baseball team battled back from a three-run deficit and defeated the Brown University Bears 4-3 in the Huskies’ home opener Wednesday afternoon.
“I knew that our team would be able to come back, we’ve been doing it all year,” junior catcher John Puttress said.
Puttress propelled the Husky offense, going 3-3 with two RBIs. Sophomore center fielder Connor Lyons and senior left fielder Matt Miller each batted in a run each.
Sophomore pitcher Matt Cook kept the Huskies in the game after giving up a two-run home run in the first inning to junior first baseman Cody Slaughter.
In the second inning, Cook found himself in a bases loaded jam with two outs after a sacrifice fly by Brown. Senior shortstop Tyler Graham brought home junior center fielder John Sheridan, for a 3-0 lead. After retiring senior left fielder Mike DiBiase, Cook got the final out of the inning and escaped the rest of his outing without surrendering more runs.
Cook went six innings, with three earned runs on four hits and seven strikeouts.
“Matt Cook just pitched through his adversity,” head coach Neil McPhee said. “He got us into the sixth inning in a one-run game and we came back.”
“After [the second inning], coach [McPhee] came out and settled me down and said, ‘Let it go, throw your stuff and you’ll be fine,’” Cook said. “The four innings I threw without giving a run, I felt good. I felt fine and I felt confident with what the coach was calling for pitches.”
Northeastern offense started rolling in the bottom of the second when Lyons hit an RBI double to bring home freshman Rob Fonseca, who reached on a double to deep left. Sophomore Aaron Barbosa walked to load the bases and Puttress hit a two run RBI double to tie the game, 3-3.
Barbosa reached on a bunt down the first baseline and then advanced to second following an error by Slaughter. A wild pick off throw pushed him to third, setting up senior left fielder Matt Miller with the leading run in scoring position. Miller hit a sacrifice fly ball giving the Huskies the 4-3 advantage.
“It’s just building character when you get these wins,” McPhee said. “We’ve built the foundation for what may become a very good season and clearly we’re headed in the right direction of the program.”
The Huskies will start their weekend series against Georgia State in Atlanta this Friday at 6 p.m.
