By Jake Fischer, News Correspondent

When most Northeastern students think of the annual Beanpot Tournament, the first thing that likely comes to mind for most is the ice hockey tournament that takes place on the first two Mondays in February. But, in the spring Harvard, Boston College, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Northeastern compete in another Boston-wide tournament in the spring: the Baseball Beanpot.

Wednesday, the Huskies kicked off the Beanpot against the Harvard Crimson, against whom the Northeastern baseball program debuted all the way back in 1921. In contrast to that inaugural game, in which the Huskies fell 14-6, Northeastern’s bats came alive yet again at Friedman Diamond and defeated the Crimson 10-2 on Wednesday.

“It’s definitely different [than other games],” assistant coach Mike Glavine said. “Even though today’s game wasn’t at Fenway as it was on our home field, we talked about, before the game, that we wanted to make sure that we would play in that championship game. That was our number one goal today and this isn’t just a regular middle-of-the week game for us.”

Currently 9-5 at home, head coach Neil McPhee’s lineup jumped onto the scoreboard right in the first inning against Harvard’s Jordan Haviland. Aaron Barbosa reached first on a lead off single and proceeded to steal both second and third. Next, Brad Burcroff got plunked and took first as well. Jason Vosler’s big double then allowed Barbosa to score, but the Huskies weren’t done yet. Rob Fonseca and Justin Kessler also knocked in runs of their own to put the Huskies up 3-0 entering the second inning. And, with a very sturdy James Mulry on the mound, they never looked back.

“I just felt pretty good today,” Barbosa, the junior who hit 3-for-5 with 2 runs and an RBI, said. “It’s a nice day to hit with the wind blowing out a little bit, a little bit of a warmer day. I was just seeing it well and I hit a few different pitches well. This win is definitely a big win to us and we wanted to get to an early lead. We did, and we’re excited to play in the night game at Fenway.”

Mulry, who made just his second start of the season, struck out eight batters in seven innings while only yielding six hits. Nearly half of the starter’s strikeouts came when he fanned the side in the second inning. The only run Harvard scored during his time on the mound came when a runner scored on his throwing error to first. Nonetheless, the sophomore spot-starter is now undefeated in his two starts this season for the Huskies and has proved to be an integral player in the team’s success.

“I felt good on the mound today,” Mulry, the product of West Roxbury, said. “I was just throwing strikes and trying to get ahead of guys. That’s what our coaches have been preaching all year and I’m just going to keep doing that and the strikeouts will come. I knew once I came out of the game there would be somebody ready to come in behind me and finish the job.”

Mulry now leads the team in earned run average, at 1.40, and has an impressive 20 strikeouts in just 19.1 innings on the entire season.

With the victory, Northeastern (20-13) will now compete in the Baseball Beanpot’s championship game on Monday, April 29 at Fenway Park. The team will face UMass (5-17), which defeated Boston College in Amherst on Wednesday, 11-5. When the Huskies last took on the Minutemen, they defeated UMass 3-1 at home.