By Jill Saftel, News Staff
After a Tuesday loss to the University of Rhode Island, the Northeastern men’s baseball team bounced back yesterday with a 3-1 win over the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in pitcher James Mulry’s first career start.
“It’s nice, any time you get a win is awesome,” the freshman out of West Roxbury said. “I’m just going to keep throwing strikes and our guys will keep playing behind me.”
Mulry pitched through seven innings, holding the Minutemen to one run throughout with just a one-run lead to sit back on.
“James Mulry was key to today’s game,” head coach Neil McPhee said. “First freshman start and he pitched awesome, a lot of strikes, used all his pitches. It’s a one-run game for him the whole way, that’s tough pitching and for a freshman, an exceptional job.”
The Huskies got out of the first inning unscathed, although the Minutemen’s first batter out reached third after Mulry hit him with a pitch. Rich Graef and Rob McLam both grounded out, but the Northeastern defense kept everyone but Ryan Cusick off base. A Nik Campero groundout to third closed out the inning when senior third baseman Pete Castoldi threw to sophomore Rob Fonseca at first to close out the top of the inning.
Junior right fielder Aaron Barbosa and junior left fielder Brad Burcroff were sent back to the dugout after a flyout to center field and a line drive to the shortstop, respectively. Sophomore shortstop Jason Vosler grounded out to bring UMass back to the plate for the second.
Three straight batters were turned away in the top of the second. Kellen Pagel flew out to left field before Jeff Cavanaro struck out looking. Nick Sanford had the best chance for the Minutemen, but his groundout to second was nothing second baseman Michael Foster couldn’t handle, and he threw to Fonseca for the out.
Foster got things going for the Huskies in the second when he stole second base after grounding out to the shortstop, who chose to take out Fonseca at second rather than Foster at first. He reached third when Puttress grounded out to third. The third baseman attempted to take Foster out, but failed. With that the Huskies got men on first and third, but not for long. Senior catcher John Puttress stole the second base of the night for the Huskies.
Despite men in scoring position, Northeastern came out of the inning scoreless after UMass pitcher Conor LeBlanc picked up the ball dribbling at the mound and got Castoldi out at first.
Solid defense from the Huskies kept any Minutemen from reaching second base in the top of the third and the defense continued to shine as a double play from Vosler to Foster to Fonseca sent Campero and McLam packing in the fourth.
Junior center fielder Connor Lyons got the Northeastern offense on the board in the fourth when he reached first and brought Vosler, who had been walked, home for the Huskies’ first run of the afternoon.
After Foster was walked, Puttress kept it going with a single to shallow center, falling between UMass’s left fielder, center fielder and second baseman, bringing Lyons home for the 2-0 lead heading into the fifth. A ground out from sophomore designated hitter R.J. Roman led to a double play for the Minutemen and ended the offensive swing for Northeastern.
“They were awesome,” Mulry said of his teammates at the plate. “Last weekend, we hit well, and if we just keep hitting, I’ll keep throwing.”
UMass got on the board with an unearned run from Graef, who got on second base with an error from Fonseca and was brought home when Campero hit a single. Things got dicey for the Huskies when Mulry threw a strike to Pagel, but Puttress didn’t catch the ball, allowing Pagel to attempt to advance to first. Puttress recovered and threw to Fonseca to get Pagel out and end the top of the sixth.
Junior right-handed pitcher Matt Cook came in for the top of the eighth and held the Minutemen to their single run and the Northeastern offense helped him out behind home plate. Castoldi got on base with a single and a sacrifice bunt from Barbosa brought him to second. Castoldi went all the way home on a single from Burcroff for the 3-1 lead heading into the final inning.
“We got key hits,” McPhee said. “Today and yesterday were tough days to hit, with the wind blowing hard in. Not a hitter’s day, but you get the key hits and that makes a difference.”
Senior Dylan Maki came in to close it out on the mound for Northeastern and did so in 1-2-3 manner, clinching the 3-1 win for the Huskies. With the win, the Huskies advance to 16-12 overall, but are still below .500 with a 5-7 record in the Colonial Athletic Association.
