After placing third in the baseball Beanpot with a strong win against UMass, Northeastern returned to conference play with a series at Stony Brook. The Huskies made the trip down to Joe Nathan Field for a three-game set against the Seawolves, looking to improve on their conference record of 8-4.
Game One:
Junior Wyatt Scotti was the starter in the opening game. He received some early run support thanks to a solo home run off the bat of freshman Carmelo Musacchia in the top of the second. Graduate student Tyler MacGregor tacked on an RBI in the top of the third, scoring senior Spenser Smith with a sacrifice ground ball.
On the other side of the ball, Scotti dazzled. His performance on the mound was one of the best of the season, as he demonstrated exquisite command over both his fastball and devastating breaking ball. He carved up the Seawolves’ offense for seven complete innings of pitching. The only blemish on his otherwise spotless stat line was an RBI double play in the bottom of the fifth.
The Huskies had a 2-1 lead through five innings, but the need for insurance was clear. Redshirt freshman Harrison Feinberg drilled a solo home run over the wall in left field, making the score 3-1.
Scotti exited the game after the seventh and was relieved by graduate student Griffin Young. Young stumbled to start things off, allowing a pair of RBI singles. Fortunately for Young, those runs were unearned due to an error and hit by pitch. Either way, the Seawolves had tied the game at three runs apiece.
The Huskies were not pleased with the tied result after nine innings, and in the top of the 10th they unleashed their displeasure upon Stony Brook.
Senior Alex Lane smoked a home run to deep center field, giving the Huskies the lead they needed. However, a one run lead did not provide the buffer that Northeastern craved. Sophomore Justin Bosland scored from third thanks to a wild pitch. Fellow Sophomore Mike Sirota hammered a triple to left field, clearing the bases and scoring a pair of runs. Sirota himself was brought in by a MacGregor single, and the Huskies had leapt out in front with a score of 8-3.
Young returned for the bottom of the 10th, and shut down the Seawolves with a 1-2-3 inning. The Huskies took game one.
Game Two:
The second game of the series saw Northeastern struggle mightily on the mound. Aiven Cabral, who has had a strong start to his freshman season, was laboring in the first inning. The Seawolves were all over Cabral. The freshman hurler was hitting his spots, but was not missing bats. After a brutal first inning, where Cabral allowed six hits and four earned runs, he was relieved by sophomore Brett Dunham.
Dunham, much like Cabral, struggled mightily from the get-go. He was unable to record an out as the Seawolves ran the bases for three more runs. Dunham would be yanked in what was by far his shortest outing of the season, as the Huskies trailed by 7-0 with no outs in the bottom of the second.
Sophomore Jack Beauchesne relieved Dunham, and escaped the jam in the second. An inning later, the Stony Brook scoring party continued. Beachesne allowed an RBI single, which was followed up by a sacrifice fly. The Huskies now trailed by nine runs.
Northeastern finally got on the board in the fourth inning. Freshman Matt Brinker stroked his second home run of the year over the left field wall. However, his score was canceled out an inning later by the Seawolves. An RBI single was all it took for the Huskies to find themselves trailing by nine once again, this time the score was 10-1.
The game stayed quiet through the middle innings, thanks to a tandem effort from juniors Michael Gemma and Will Jones. They tossed a combined three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and only one baserunner through a walk.
Senior Danny Crossen got another run back with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh which scored Sirota. Redshirt senior Nick Davis was the final reliever of the day. He immediately gave up a home run to the Seawolves, giving them their 11th run of the game. In the top of the ninth, redshirt sophomore Jack Thorbahn responded with a solo home run of his own, but it was not enough to erase the massive deficit. The Huskies dropped game two by a score of 11-3.
Game Three:
The series-deciding game was started well by the Huskies. Junior Eric Yost was the starter, and he was immediately solid. Lane gave him some run support in the top of the second inning. His 11th home run of the year started the scoring for Northeastern. Sirota also added an RBI in the third inning, scoring junior Gregory Bozzo through a sacrifice groundout.
Despite the narrow 2-0 lead, the Huskies offense was quiet for the next few innings. They did not strike again until the sixth, when MacGregor sent a fly ball to the outfield, which allowed Sirota to tag up and score from third. Lane added another RBI with a single to score Crossen, doubling the Huskies’ advantage.
Northeastern added one more run in the top of the ninth, as Bozzo singled to left field, scoring the speedy Smith. The Huskies now led the Seawolves 5-0.
Yost was absolutely incredible on the mound. He pitched for a career high eight-and-a-third innings, allowing six hits with six punchouts and no runs. Redshirt junior Jake Gigliotti stepped in and shut the door in the ninth, securing the win for the Huskies. The shutout win was their sixth of the season.
Northeastern will return to conference play and to their home grounds this coming weekend for a three-game series against the Hofstra Pride. The Huskies will enter the series in third place in the CAA, while Hofstra trails in a distant seventh place. Daisy Roberts and Amelia Ballingall have full coverage for WRBB starting at 2 p.m.