After one last series, the Northeastern baseball team (8-4) ended their road trip and were ready to take it back to Friedman Diamond.
Before that, the Huskies had a remaining contest against Georgia Tech — where they won by 7-0 thanks to two home runs from graduate student first baseman Tyler MacGregor — and a series against the Old Dominion Monarchs (9-6) in Norfolk.
The team put up a good fight in the first contest of a Friday doubleheader, but ultimately could not catch up, starting the weekend on a sour note.
Sophomore right-hander Aiven Cabral started for 4.1 innings, punching out two players and allowing two earned runs on five hits. Senior left-hander Will Jones relieved him for 3.2 innings, but they weren’t able to hold off the Monarchs.
Old Dominion took the lead in the bottom of the first inning on a groundout RBI hit by senior infielder Jake Ticer, but Northeastern pushed forward in the second. Junior Justin Bosland tied the game after being hit by a pitch, stealing second and third, and running home on a wild pitch that also walked sophomore outfielder Cam Maldonado. Maldonado went on to steal second, and sophomore infielder Jack Goodman’s double sent him around to give Northeastern the lead. MacGregor’s RBI double earned Goodman a run, bringing the score to 3-1.
The Monarchs took back their lead in the top of the fifth when efforts from sophomore outfielder Luke Waters sent three guys through for a 4-3 lead. This allowed junior outfielder Steven Meier to get home when Water was caught stealing.
While Northeastern senior infielder Luke Beckstein tied the score in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, Old Dominion only needed one more inning to add three more runs to their total.
Northeastern graduate student designated hitter Alex Lane hit a home run off Monarchs junior left-hander Jacob Gomez in the ninth, but that would be all for the Huskies as Gomez struck out the pinch hitter to end the game.
Both teams came back to the diamond 30 minutes later for the second contest — and Northeastern came in swinging at the top of the first. Their first five batters got base hits, and Lane was able to clear loaded bases on a double. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Harrison Feinberg’s single scored Lane for an early 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Monarchs earned two runs but trailed behind for most of the game. Up until the seventh inning, neither team was able to send any more players home. At the top, junior center fielder Mike Sirota reached first on an error and Lane was walked. Bosland and Goodman’s RBI singles brought Sirota and Lane home, maintaining the Huskies’ lead 6-2.
Tallying another two in the top of the eighth, the Huskies built up a strong enough lead to shut down Old Dominion and closed the final score at 8-4.
This doubleheader split left the outcome of the series up to Sunday’s game, and Northeastern earned enough runs to land them in the double digits and cement their win.
Senior right-hander Wyatt Scotti started for Northeastern, shutting out the Monarchs until the fourth inning. He punched out five players in his four innings.
Simultaneously, the Huskies put up 10 runs in those innings. Three were thanks to a home run from Lane that also scored MacGregor and Sirota in the first, and the next three were tacked on in the second. Beckstein’s RBI single, sophomore infielder Carmelo Musacchia running home on a passed ball, and Lane’s RBI single connected to bring them home.
The top of the third brought two walks on loaded bases to earn two more runs for the Huskies, and Lane’s third hit of the game sent two more players home to close out the inning. Bosland scored in the fourth on an RBI single by Musacchia for an 11-0 lead.
Old Dominion finally warmed up with an RBI double that sent the ball down the right-field line by sophomore catcher Evan Holman, but Scotti finished them off before scoring any more runs.
For the Huskies, MacGregor scored on a combination of a double, wild pitch and passed ball to add another tally in the top of the sixth. The seventh added three more runs.
The Monarchs responded in the sixth to tally four runs and added three more in the bottom of the eighth, but their nine total runs could not compare to the Huskies’ 17 as they failed to keep up with their momentum. RBI hits by MacGregor in the eighth and senior catcher Jimmy Sullivan in the ninth secured Northeastern’s victory.
The series win closed out a road trip that gave the Huskies eight contest wins and four losses, and they returned home for the first time this season to Brookline on March 12 and 13 for games against Sacred Heart and Bryant, respectively, winning both.
