After dropping its season-opening series to Arizona and winning two games against Minnesota, the Northeastern baseball team (5-3) traveled to Macon, Georgia over the weekend to face the Mercer Bears (9-3).
As new players found their footing on the team and blended with old talent, Northeastern came out on top and won two of three games, taking the series.
The Huskies had a rough start to the weekend, falling to Mercer in their first matchup on Saturday. They struggled with sending players home, leaving nine runners on base throughout the nine innings.
The contest started with a confident opening frame, the Huskies earning one run on three hits. After junior center fielder Mike Sirota was walked by pitcher Colton Cosper, redshirt sophomore designated hitter Alex Lane and sophomore infielder Carmelo Musacchia both hit singles to bring him home for a 1-0 lead. The top of the fourth brought Northeastern forward another run, thanks to a leadoff solo homer from sophomore catcher Matt Brinker.
Unfortunately, that momentum was crushed in the bottom of the fourth — Mercer came in swinging with a vengeance, serving a grand slam after a bases-loaded walk. Senior shortstop Noah Best slammed the ball out of the park to flip the score 5-2 with the highlight hit of the game.
The grand slam paired with Mercer’s strong pitching — led by senior right-hander Colton Cosper, who punched out five players in his 5.1 innings — was the downfall for Northeastern.
After sophomore Aiven Cabral was retired for the day, senior left-hander Will Jones emerged from the Huskies’ bullpen for 4.1 innings, securing six strikeouts and only one earned run. But it wasn’t enough to put the Huskies back on top.
Northeastern attempted to bring back their lead in the seventh, when graduate student first baseman Tyler MacGregor scored on an RBI groundout from Lane. However, the Bears had already sealed the deal and topped another at the bottom of the eighth to cement their 6-3 win.
In the first game of a Sunday doubleheader, the Huskies completely turned the tides. Even though Mercer got on the board first and took an early lead with junior shortstop Bradley Frye’s homer, the next few innings would be Northeastern’s time to shine.
On the plate for the Huskies, senior right-hander Wyatt Scotti threw six strikeouts, let up one walk, and allowed a mere two runs in 5.1 innings.
In the fourth inning, Northeastern pulled ahead 3-1 when redshirt sophomore outfielder Harrison Feinberg hit a homer bomb that gave the Huskies three runs, including for Musacchia and Lane. Mercer responded with a sac fly in the bottom, but the Huskies rebutted with an RBI double from MacGregor to score senior catcher Gregory Bozzo.
The seventh and eighth innings were nothing but a display of the powerhouse batting lineup of Northeastern. With solo homers by junior infielder Jack Doyle and sophomore infielder Jack Goodman and a bases-loaded RBI single from Lane, the Huskies extended their lead to 8-2.
Tied 1-1 for the weekend, game three would decide the fate of the series. The Huskies brought out junior right-handed pitcher Dennis Colleran to set the tone, but he struggled to hold off the Bears at the start.
Like deja vu, the Bears initially took the lead in the first inning, but Northeastern refused to let them get another run for three innings. Meanwhile, the Huskies flipped the lead in the top of the third, scoring Luke Beckstein on MacGregor’s RBI single. Lane tallied another hit to score Sirota, and MacGregor scored on an error, boosting Northeastern to a 3-1 lead.
Mercer retaliated in the bottom of the fourth to take back the lead 7-3, and they’d hang on top for the next three innings.
Lane smashed the ball out of the park in the fifth, bringing the score back to 7-4, but Northeastern still struggled to catch back up, especially when an RBI single landed Mercer another run in the sixth.
Junior pitcher Jack Beauchesne took to the mound for the last three innings and his impressive relief prevented the Bears from making any more moves, giving Northeastern room to fuel their comeback.
The next two innings, like clockwork, were a powerhouse display. Fired up and bringing their all to the last few hits in Macon, MacGregor and Lane tallied three runs with back-to-back homers and inched closer to a lead. Sophomore outfielder Cam Maldonado tied the game, and Sirota took the lead, both with impressive home runs in the eighth. Feinberg hit an RBI single to extend the Huskies’ lead to 10-8, and the Bears couldn’t catch up beyond one run in the ninth, giving Northeastern a 10-9 match win and the series crown.
While the Huskies barely made it out unscathed, their multiple comebacks showed their resilience and the potential the team has. They continue on the road this week, aiming to keep up their multi-HR game tally and show their opponents what this new lineup has to offer.
The Huskies face off against Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta for their next contest at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a series against Old Dominion University starting Friday at 3 p.m.
