By Ethan Schroeder, news staff
The Northeastern baseball team dropped to a 2-4 record after three straight losses to the University of South Carolina this weekend.
The Huskies arrived in Columbia, S.C. full of momentum after taking two of three games against the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio during their first series of the season. With the Gamecocks ranked 12th among the top 30 teams in the country by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), NU had its work cut out for it.
Play between the two teams opened on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader after Friday’s game was pushed back due to cold weather. In the first matchup, South Carolina backed up its impressive ranking with a 10-1 victory. Senior pitcher Nick Berger took the mound for the Huskies. Facing 20 batters, Berger struggled early on and gave up two earned runs in the first frame and left in the fifth after he allowed five runs on eight hits. NU was able to strike in the top of the sixth with an RBI-single from sophomore catcher Gabe Levanti, keeping the game at 5-1. South Carolina countered with two runs of its own in the seventh, however, the game was effectively put out of reach. NU managed only three hits.
“There was two outs [in the seventh] with two runners on for South Carolina [sic], but they got a little bloop hit that sort of just fell in, putting the game at 7-1,” Head Coach Mike Glavine said. “We were in it for a while, but the game got out of hand later on.”
In the second game of the day, the Huskies’ hitting woes continued, resulting in a 6-0 win for the Gamecocks. Facing four different South Carolina pitchers, NU recorded six hits, stranding runners in six innings. Sophomore pitcher Dustin Hunt lost his first start of the season, lasting five and two-thirds innings. On top of its 12 hits, South Carolina was able to take advantage of four fielding errors by the Huskies, cheered on by a home attendance of roughly 7,220 people.
“When we first got to South Carolina, I guess you could say we were kind of overwhelmed,” sophomore outfielder Pat Madigan said. “We weren’t used to playing in front of that many people and so we were a little tight.”
Madigan and redshirt junior catcher Josh Treff led NU offensively with two hits apiece. Junior shortstop Marcus Mooney’s three hits paced the Gamecocks’.
Looking to salvage the series, NU was finally able to get its bats going in Sunday’s game but still fell by two runs with a score of 6-4. With 15 hits over the course of the game, the Huskies were able to maintain a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth inning. South Carolina broke out for five runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a three-run home run from freshman outfielder Alex Destino. NU fought back with runs in the sixth and ninth innings, but its rally proved to be too little, too late. Madigan went 5-5 for the Huskies batting in the cleanup spot, continuing his impressive start to the season after a freshman year in which he saw little playing time.
“Going into the offseason after last year, I had it in my head that I wanted to make an impact this season and help the team out, so I worked really hard at that,” he said. “I hit the weight room and batting cages and, so far, I’ve been able to do pretty well.”
Junior pitcher James Mulry took the loss for NU, allowing four runs over the course of four and two-thirds innings. South Carolina freshman pitcher Clarke Schmidt earned his second win of the season, coming in for relief in the fifth inning.
Despite the sweep, Glavine was optimistic about the team’s potential moving forward.
“We weren’t able to win the series, but you take a step back and look at what we did well and what we can improve on, and I think we played well as the weekend went on,” Glavine said. “There are things to build on, but I think we walked off that field on Sunday feeling good about our effort and how good this team can really be.”
Taking positives from the series, NU heads to Florida this weekend to take part in the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. The classic kicks off with a game against the University of Kansas on Saturday morning. Madigan believes that the team’s performance at the end of the South Carolina series has the players confident in their ability moving forward.
“If we can play like we did in the last game against South Carolina and pitch and hit like we know like we can, I think that we can play against any team in the country,” Madigan said. “We should have a successful trip.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
