By Elizabeth Thomas, News Correspondent
The Northeastern baseball team hoped its four-run fourth inning would help springboard it to a win against the University of Connecticut Tuesday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough.
Northeastern (18-26, 8-16 Colonial Athletic Association) battled back from an early seven-run
deficit to pull within one run, but eventually fell 8-7 to UConn (27-21, 14-7 Big East) at Friedman Diamond.
Tuesday’s loss to UConn marks Northeastern’s third consecutive loss, as the Huskies dropped two out of three games in its weekend series with Hofstra University May 4-6.
Northeastern senior co-captain and left fielder Matt Miller continued his offensive dominance, going 4-5 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs Tuesdsay. Junior catcher Jon Leroux also maintained his hot streak, hitting his fifth home run in his last six games.
“I just hit really well at the plate and just saw the pitcher pretty well,” Leroux said. “All the pitchers we faced were really good. We hit the ball very well as a team. We were tied going into the eighth inning and struggled going into the ninth. I felt we really outplayed them until that point in the game.”
Sophomore pitcher Matt Cook (1-6, 7.58 ERA) took the loss for Northeastern, pitching five innings and allowing seven runs (five earned) on nine hits. Junior reliever Michael Murphy took over in the bottom of the sixth and allowed just one run on three hits over two innings.
UConn junior starting pitcher Pat Butler (2-3, 6.23 ERA) pitched four and two-thirds innings and allowed four runs on six hits. Junior pitcher Will Jolin (1-0, 4.18 ERA) relieved Butler in the fifth inning and picked up the win despite giving up three runs on five hits over two and two-thirds innings.
UConn scored a pair of runs in the first inning and extended its lead to four runs in the second inning courtesy of a two-run home run from senior infielder Tim Martin. UConn would go on to score one run in both the third and fourth innings to bring the score to 7-0.
Miller got Northeastern’s offense started with a double to left field in the bottom of the fourth. Leroux then reached on an infield single and second baseman Jason Vosler doubled to right to score Miller and make the score 7-1.
The Northeastern offense found more success in the bottom of the fifth. After sophomore outfielder Aaron Barbosa grounded into a fielder’s choice, junior catcher John Puttress was hit by a pitch before Miller hit his second double of the day to score Barbosa.
Jolin came in for UConn in the bottom of the fifth with Leroux at the plate. The catcher hit a three-run home run, putting Northeastern within two runs of UConn, who led 8-6.
Murphy came in to relieve Cook in the sixth and threw a scoreless frame but allowed one run in the seventh off a solo home run by redshirt senior catcher Joe Pavone.
Northeastern cut the UConn lead in the bottom of the seventh with a lead-off single from Lyons. Next up, Barbosa laid down a bunt for a single with two on and no outs. Puttress then singled, scoring Lyons from second base. Miller followed with his fourth hit of the day in as many at-bats, singling to left field and driving home Barbosa to cut UConn’s lead to 8-7.
After sophomore center fielder Connor Lyons led off the ninth with a double, Barbosa advanced Lyons with a sacrifice bunt before Puttress was hit by a pitch. Miller attempted a suicide squeeze, but Lyons was tagged out at the plate for the second out of the inning. Leroux was hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing up Vosler who grounded out to second and stranded the three runners on base to end the game.
The loss to UConn came on the heels of a disappointing showing the weekend before.
The Huskies lost their weekend series with the Hofstra Pride (28-18, 16-8 CAA) after giving up eight runs in the eighth inning of the series finale Sunday afternoon en route to a 15-9 loss in Hempstead, N.Y.
Northeastern won the series opener 7-5 before the Pride routed the Huskies 10-2 on Saturday.
“Its was a tough weekend but our confidence is still pretty high and we all believe that we have a chance to win out in this conference,” Leroux said. “With the pitching we have and they way we are starting to swing the bats again, I have all the confidence in the world that we can make a run.”
The Huskies offense was once again led by Leroux Sunday afternoon, who had two home runs and drove in five runs while Lyons had his first career home run in a pinch-hit at-bat to tie the game in the top of the eighth inning.
National Player of the Week and junior pitcher Kevin Ferguson (5-3, 3.44 ERA) started for the Huskies and allowed five runs on eight hits in five and one-third innings pitched.
David Jesch started on the hill for the Pride and surrendered six runs on nine hits over four and two-thirds innings, but reliever Andrew Barbarino came on in the fifth and pitched two and one-third scoreless frames to allow Hofstra to make a comeback.
Northeastern didn’t waste any time getting on the board, scoring four runs in the first off an RBI single by Volser and three-run home run by Leroux. Hofstra fired back in the first and second innings, putting three runs on the board to cut the Northeastern lead to 4-3.
In the fourth inning, Pride junior center fielder Taylor Stuart hit a solo home run to tie the game at four apiece. After a two-run fifth inning, Hofstra rallied and scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead.
Lyons hit a solo home run to tie the game in the top of the eighth and breathe new life into the Huskies’ offense, only to have the Pride respond with eight runs in the bottom of the inning, breaking the game open for Hofstra and giving the Pride a commanding 15-7 lead.
“We are never out of a game, which is the best thing about this team,” Leroux said. “We have had a lot of come-from-behind games this year, which is a great thing for us. We are always confident going into the later innings when we are down and it’s tough to be down, but we always have confidence that we can come back from any of those situations.”
Leroux hit his second home run of the game in the top of the ninth inning to cut the lead to six runs, but the Huskies’ rally was stifled when junior right fielder Jason Roth hit into a double play to end the game.
Leroux’s performance carried over from Saturday’s 10-2 loss, in which he had both of the Huskies RBIs in the fourth inning on his only hit of the game.
Puttress, Vosler and sophomore shortstop Oliver Hart each had two hits on the day.
“We had a tough day Saturday as a team,” Leroux said. “We just couldn’t get much going. I felt like we hit the ball well all weekend. [Hofstra] just made some good plays against us, but overall I don’t think we really played that bad, they just played a little bit better than us that day.”
Freshman pitcher Nick Berger (3-4, 5.57 ERA) lasted five and two-third innings, allowing eight runs (three earned) on 12 hits to take the loss.
Hofstra junior pitcher John Tiedeman allowed only two runs to advance his season record to 6-3.
After a solo home run from Pride junior first baseman Jared Hammer in the second inning, Leroux gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead in the fourth with a two-RBI single.
Hofstra then shattered any hopes for the Huskies by scoring two runs in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and two more in the sixth to break open the game at 8-2.
Pride senior outfielder Danny Pomma and junior infielder Matt Ford gave the Pride its final runs of the game with RBI hits in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Huskies’ only win of the weekend came after they scored four runs in the ninth inning to erase a two-run deficit and take a 7-5 lead Friday afternoon.
Senior pitcher Andrew Lennhouts (5-3) got his fifth win of the season and had seven strikeouts in eight innings. Junior pitcher Dylan Maki closed the bottom of the ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.
“I can’t say anything bad about Friday,” Leroux said after the game. “Any win is a good win but CAA are definitely the most important games. We want to win every game but especially CAA games.”
Trailing 5-3 in the top of the ninth, Leroux started the comeback with a solo home run to lead off the inning. RBI hits from Barbosa, Puttress and Miller put the Huskies up 7-5.
Northeastern will host Old Dominion University this weekend in the final CAA weekend series starting this Friday at Friedman Diamond at 3 p.m. The team will also honor its seniors as part of Senior Day Saturday.
