Friday’s game brought the Huskies a disappointing walk-off loss after a hard-fought back-and-forth battle.
On Saturday, Old Dominion (7–3) scored all of their runs in one third-inning barrage, and spent the rest of the game stranding runners. Throughout the game, Northeastern (3–3) chipped away at the Monarchs’ lead.
Sebastian Keane took the mound for his second start of the year after posting a 23.14 ERA in his first outing. Today he also struggled a bit, but his defense limited the damage.
“I think there’s more in there; we haven’t seen the best of him,” head coach Mike Glavine said. “I thought it was much better today. He was throwing harder, I thought his off-speed stuff was better. He was more competitive. It was in the zone more. I think he trusted everything he was doing more, but today was a step in the right direction and he gave us a chance to win the game.”
In the top of the third, Northeastern’s JP Olson slammed a double to right center, advanced to third on a hit from Spenser Smith, and scored on an error to get the Huskies on the board. That error put the batter, Scott Holzwasser, at second. Though Monarch starter Nick Pantos fanned Jeff Costello, Holzwasser advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored an unearned run. 2–0 Huskies.
Old Dominion answered with a vengeance. They loaded the bases for an Andy Garriola grand slam, then Robbie Petracci quickly tacked on another homer.
In the top of the fourth, Northeastern’s Max Viera fired his first collegiate homer out of the park, trimming the Monarch lead to 5–3.
Keane finished up at the end of the fifth, tallying eight strikeouts. In the top of the sixth the Huskies started building small hits and walks, but ultimately exited the inning scoreless after leaving the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the sixth, Brian Rodriguez took the mound for the Huskies; he would strike out three in two innings of play. In the bottom of the eighth, Jake Gigliotti took the mound, and did not allow a hit in two scoreless innings.
“Rodriguez was really good for us in that role last year,” Glavine said. “We got in trouble in that one inning and made the pitches when he needed to. And that’s a sign of a great pitcher and what you need out of your bullpen.”
As the Huskies stepped up to the plate for their final frame, Olson and Smith both walked, with Olson taking third on a wild pitch. A Holzwasser grounder to third forced Smith out and plated Olson to bring the Huskies within one.
With the deadly baserunner Holzwasser on first and one out, Old Dominion pitcher Jacob Gomez did his best to try to pick him off, or at least keep him close to the bag, but it ultimately wouldn’t matter. After Jeff Costello struck out, Jared Dupere got up to the plate with two outs and took the pitch count deep. Gomez started to tire and lose his accuracy, almost hitting Dupere on multiple occasions, but Dupere pushed through. With a 3-2 count, the lefty offered at a meatball of a pitch and cranked it over the right-field fence, giving the Huskies a 6–5 lead, their first since the third inning and the one that would prove the decider.
The Huskies face Old Dominion again tomorrow at 12:05 PM.