When it rains, it pours. The University of Albany baseball team felt the true meaning of this, as they were on the receiving end of a 10-1 thumping at the hands of the Northeastern Huskies Tuesday afternoon. 

Their takedown of the Great Danes came fresh on the heels of a disappointing weekend series against Old Dominion. The Huskies came close, but fell just short of ODU, dropping two of three in Virginia.

Back in Boston, the Huskies were ready to rebound. Freshman Wyatt Scotti got the ball to start things off for the home team. He pitched for four strong innings, allowing only one run and striking out seven. The only dark spot on an otherwise gleaming start was an RBI double that drove in a baserunner that reached on an error. Scotti was not charged with an earned run, but the Great Danes led 1-0 after the top of the first inning. 

“I thought [Scotti] pitched great again. It’s his second start, and he set the tone for us,” Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine said. “He put the ball on the strike zone, and used all of his pitches.”

The Huskies’ formidable offense was quick to respond. In the bottom of the first, they smacked in four hits, including a triple off the bat of freshman Max Viera, and hung up three runs on the Great Danes starter.

Neither team scored again until the fourth inning. Northeastern’s bats would explode, chasing redshirt junior and Albany reliever Marshall Winn out of the game. Redshirt junior Jeff Costello and redshirt sophomore Danny Crossen would do the bulk of the heavy lifting for the Huskies. Costello’s two-RBI single in fourth got the Huskies bats going. The following batters continued to pound the ball as Winn struggled with his command. Crossen got in on the fun as well, scoring Costello off an RBI double en route to a four-for-four performance. Redshirt freshman JP Olson wrapped up the inning with his first collegiate RBI.

“[Crossen’s] a tireless worker,” Glavine said. “To see him get four hits today was a great thing.”

B5 | 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻 now 4-for-4 today with an RBI, run and double

10-1 #HowlinHuskies pic.twitter.com/iZheArv89B

— Northeastern Baseball (@GoNUbaseball) March 9, 2021

After their explosive fourth inning, the Huskies’ bats went quiet once again, not scoring for the rest of the game. 

The game then transitioned from an offensive route to a bullpen battle. The Huskies used five different arms, each recording three outs. The only one to allow a hit was redshirt senior Rick Burroni, allowing a single in the top of the ninth. Albany’s bullpen was carried by redshirt junior Connor Takacs, who pitched for three and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball in the back half of the game.

“The guys in the bullpen did really well,” Glavine said. “They were coming in there for one inning, and they just try to pound the zone and attack, and use all of their stuff.”

Northeastern will play UMass Lowell in a three-game series at home this weekend, including a doubleheader on Friday, before playing Bryant the following Tuesday.