The Northeastern baseball team (14-8, 2-1 CAA) won two of three games in its series against the Towson Tigers (8-17, 1-2 CAA) March 21 to 23 for their first conference play of the season. The Huskies dropped the first game in extra innings 3-2 but won 10-0 in the second and won 6-2 in the third.
In the series opener March 21, the Huskies had a strong start after scoring first in the bottom of the second inning. Junior second baseman Carmelo Musacchia led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and scored from second on a left field RBI single by redshirt junior right fielder Harrison Feinberg, putting Northeastern up by one.
In the same inning, the Huskies added on another by a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt down the first base line by graduate student catcher Gregory Bozzo, scoring redshirt freshman first baseman Will Fosberg and doubling the lead.
Junior right-handed pitcher Charlie Walker began on the mound March 21 for the Huskies in his first career start. In 5 innings pitched, he struck out six and allowed just six hits and no earned runs. The Tigers scored one unearned run in the fourth off a fielding error by the Huskies.
Senior right-handed pitcher Brett Dunham came into the game following Walker, pitching a solid five scoreless innings. He recorded two strikeouts and allowed only two hits. Both Walker and Dunham had successful outings, dealing not one walk in 10 innings.
In the eighth inning, the Tigers scored on a Husky throwing error, tying the game 2-2 on an unearned run.
The tied game went into extras, with a quiet 10th inning for both teams. In the top of the 11th, senior right-handed pitcher Jack Beauchesne came in for Dunham, getting one out quickly but allowing a go-ahead solo home run to left field in the next at bat.
The Huskies failed to capitalize off of junior designated hitter Cam Maldonado’s single in the bottom of the inning, allowing the Tigers to take game one of the series, 3-2. It was Northeastern’s first loss of the season when leading after seven innings.
Northeastern mercy ruled the Towson Tigers 10-0 in the second game of their series March 22.
Junior right-handed pitcher Aiven Cabral was on the mound for the Huskies and pitched a complete game with six strikeouts, no walks, no runs and only gave up one hit.
The first three innings were scoreless for both teams. In the first, Towson had a base runner off an error for their only baserunner until the sixth. In the bottom of the first, Musacchia led off with a single, but the next two Husky batters struck out.
The second was a quick one-two-three inning for both teams with no baserunners. In the top of the third, all three Towson batters were shut down quickly. In the bottom of the third, graduate student left fielder Alex Lane singled but was thrown out trying to steal second before the next two batters grounded out and flew out, respectively.
While the top of the fourth was the same story for Towson with all three batters retiring, the bottom saw the Huskies’ bats come alive.
After opening up the inning with a groundout, Maldonado got the hitting started for the Huskies with a single. After a deep fly out on the warning track, sophomore center fielder Ryan Gerety hit a single with a 2-2 count to put runners on first and second with two outs. After going down in the count 0-1, Feinberg drove the next pitch over the fence to put the Huskies up 3-0 before the end of the inning.
Towson remained hitless in the fifth, but the Huskies kept tacking on runs. Lane led off the inning with a double and advanced to third off a sacrifice bunt. After a rocket line drive was caught, giving the Huskies two outs, Musacchia knocked in Lane to increase the Huskies’ lead to 4-0.
The top of the sixth gave the Tigers their sole hit of the game with a single to deep left field, but the next three batters were retired, sending the game to the bottom of the sixth where the Huskies went on a scoring spree.
After starting the inning off with a strikeout, the Huskies got runners on first and third after a hit-by-pitch and a single. Fosberg had a successful bunt on the first pitch he saw to drive in a run. After another strikeout for the Huskies with runners on second and third after a steal, Bozzo and senior third baseman Jack Doyle had back-to-back RBI singles to increase the Huskies’ lead to 7-0.
In hopes of limiting the damage, Towson switched pitchers, but it was too late. After another Husky was hit by a pitch, the Huskies had bases loaded as Maldonado stepped up to the plate. On the first pitch he saw, Maldonado knocked in the runners on second and third with a single before a strikeout ended the inning with the Huskies up 9-0.
In what would be their final at-bat, the Tigers were put away off a ground out and two strikeouts. After the seventh inning stretch, Gerety led off with a walk but was thrown out in a run down. Feinberg was then hit by a pitch, but the next batter flew out to the warning track. With two outs, Lane stepped up to the plate and got his third hit of the game to drive in the run and hand the Huskies a 10-0 win.
The Huskies took the third game 6-2 March 23, winning the series.
Graduate student left-handed pitcher Jordan Gottesman started the game for Northeastern. Through his six innings, he struck out seven of his opponents and let 22 balls fly.
Offensively, the Huskies started slowly going 1-2-3 through the first, second and third inning.
In the fourth inning, Maldonado walked to first base, courtesy of junior right-handed pitcher Dutch DeProspero. Junior shortstop Jack Goodman came up to bat next, where he struck the ball right over the second base. He made it to second base while Maldonado advanced to third.
Gerety bunted and made it to first base, advancing Goodman to third and sending Maldonado to home. This was the first score of the day for both teams as the Huskies took the lead by one run.
Northeastern continued their momentum by taking out Towson in a 1-2-3 but were unable to sustain it in the bottom of the fifth, with Fosberg earning a walk and no one able to bring him home.
Like the inning prior, Gottesman took out Towson in another 1-2-3, but this time the Huskies capitalized while at bat.
Musacchia singled down left field, putting the first Husky on base. Maldonado sent the ball down the right field line, where he found second base and Musacchia went home, putting the score 2-0. Maldonado then was able to advance to third base on the throw.
Goodman walked to first base while Maldonado patiently waited for a hit to send him home. While Gerety was up at bat, Goodman stole second, putting the Huskies one man away from having their bases loaded. Gerety sent the ball down the right side of the field, sending him to first base, Goodman to third and Maldonado to third to widen Northeastern’s lead 3-0.
After this play, Towson relieved DeProspero and brought in redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Nate Nabholz.
While Feinberg was at bat, Gerety stole second base. Feinberg singled down the left side of the field and both Goodman and Gerety reached home. Lane came into the batter’s box next where Feinberg stole second and third base. After Lane struck out, Bozzo sent the ball towards Towson’s shortstop who could not get it to first base in time with Bozzo making it safely. Feinberg scored off this run after the Tigers attempted to get Bozzo out. Bozzo was caught trying to steal second, which ended the inning.
Before the top of the seventh inning, senior left-handed pitcher Jack Bowery replaced Gottesman. The Huskies did not allow the Tigers to get themselves on the board until the ninth inning.
At the top of the ninth, sophomore left outfielder Brady Nathison flew the ball down the right side of the field, where junior catcher Brian Heckelman advanced to third and junior designated hitter Max D’Alessandro got the first run for Towson. Brand took the batters box next where he sent the ball down the left side of the field, sending Heckelman home, bringing the final score 6-2.
The Huskies will play at home March 26 against University of Connecticut (10-11, 0-0 Big East) at 2:30 p.m.
