By Max Lederman
After splitting two games last Wednesday against cross-town rival Boston College, the Northeastern baseball team went into two more double-headers on Sunday and Monday against Albany looking to start their conference schedule with a splash.
The splash ended up being a crash, however, as the Huskies dropped three out of four games against Albany to post a 1-3 conference record.
In the last game of the two-day, four-game series against Albany on Monday, the NU pitchers went wild — literally. They threw six pitches that could not find their respective mitts, and lost the game, 6-3.
Omar Pena and Paul Koslowski, who both went 2-3, each drove in a run in the fifth inning to bring the Dogs within two, but that was as close as they would get.
The story for the first game of Monday’s double-header wasn’t the 11 runs that the Huskies scored to give them their first conference win of the season, it was the complete game gem that Justin Hedrick pitched. Hedrick, who had a no-hitter going for the first 4 2/3 innings, gave up just one earned run on four hits. The junior also fanned eight batters while walking just one.
“I didn’t have my best stuff,” said Hedrick, “I was just able to hit my spots and get batters out.” After going 1-1 with a 3.92 ERA in five appearances last season, Hedrick spent the summer playing in a summer league where he learned a lot about the game of baseball.
“I spent all of last season trying to get healthy, and after having a great summer I knew I could come in here and really help the team out,” Hedrick said. So far, Hedrick is 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA, good for third in the conference.
While Hedrick was dominating Great Danes batters, the NU freshmen were busy spanking Albany’s pitchers. Rookie Arman Sidhu led the Huskies highest scoring output of the season by batting 3-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Fellow freshmen Matt Morizio and Chris Emanuele each added two hits and scored twice.
On Sunday, the NU squad did not fare as well. In the sixth inning of game two on Sunday, Tim Bush scored on a Chris Emanuele bloop single to bring the Huskies to within a run of Albany. However, Matt Morizio, who represented the tying run, was thrown out at the plate on the same play. The Huskies would not threaten again and were defeated, 5-2. NU starter Jordan Thompson went the distance, but picked up the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits.
In game one, the Great Danes knocked in three runs in both the second and fourth innings to yield a commanding lead that they would refuse to surrender.
Despite the 11-2 loss, Omar Pena continued his hot streak by notching two of the Huskies five hits in the game and scoring one run. Husky sophomore Devin Monds received the loss after allowing seven runs (four earned) in 3 1/3 innings.
Notes:
There’s no crying in baseball, but even the Red Sox would have had a hard time playing four games in two days. Factor in a two week span with only two games before that, and the difficulty increases again.
“Its tough because we haven’t played in a while,” said freshman centerfielder Chris Emanuele. “We need to play more games and get back into the groove of things.”
Don’t judge the Northeastern baseball team by its 1-3 America East record, or by returning from Albany with just one victory. The team entered the season with a drastically improved lineup and a solid veteran pitching staff, but due to Mother Nature the Dogs have been unable to get on a roll.
“We have all of the tools to be a powerhouse,” Hedrick said. “Right now we are one step away.”
