BROOKLINE — After dropping four of their last five games, Northeastern desperately needed to get back in the win column, beginning with more CAA action against Elon.
The Huskies accomplished their task thanks to a monumental offensive output from the middle of the order en route to a much-needed 11-4 win over the Phoenix.
Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine handed the ball to senior Michael Gemma to open this weekend’s three-game series. Gemma lasted just two innings and allowed three earned runs.
For Elon head coach Mike Kennedy, junior Nolan Straniero toed the slab, entering the contest with a 7.45 ERA.
Northeastern jumped on the board early in the first inning. Graduate student Alex Lane scored junior Mike Sirota on a groundout to go ahead of the Phoenix 1-0.
However, Elon quickly answered in the second inning when freshman Vince Fattore connected on his sixth homer of the season to left field, a three-run shot that scored senior James Broderick and redshirt junior Will Vergantino.
To relieve Gemma, Glavine went to redshirt senior Jake Gigliotti, who pitched nearly three crucial innings, allowing just one earned run. In his outing, the right-hander struck out five hitters.
After Gigliotti’s exit, senior southpaw Will Jones entered, tossing almost three scoreless frames to pick up the win.
“Giglitotti was awesome coming out of the bullpen,” Glavine said. “So was [Will] Jones. Those guys did an awesome job of settling the game down.”
The Huskies tied the score 3-3 in the second frame when senior Luke Beckstein ripped a clutch two-RBI single to right field that scored sophomore Cam Maldonado and senior Greg Bozzo.
Northeastern added another run on an RBI groundout from Bozzo in the bottom of the fifth inning.
After the Phoenix retook the lead in the fifth inning, graduate transfer Tyler MacGregor smoked his eighth home run of the year, an opposite field shot to left.
However, Northeastern blew the game open in the seventh inning. First, senior Jimmy Sullivan plated sophomore Carmelo Musacchia on a single.
Then, Maldonado delivered the “big blow,” Glavine said.
With two runners on, the sophomore crushed a 410-foot three-run blast to dead center to make it a 9-4 Husky lead. After crushing 13 homers last season, the round-tripper was just Maldonado’s third of the season and first hit in the past 12 games.
“[Maldonado] had a very good game,” Glavine said. “He’s a super talented player. He works really hard. We need him.”
Later on in the eighth frame, MacGregor smacked his second homer of the afternoon and Sullivan collected his third knock of the day, an RBI-single to score Lane.
At the end of the action, Northeastern cruised to an 11-4 victory.
After the Huskies’ losing skid, Glavine was pleased to see all facets of the team produce, especially the pitching.
“I just like the attack mode and the way they took the mound,” he said. “We have a clear message that was sent this week to the team. We have to start playing with a sense of urgency. That was the message.”
Glavine emphasized the team’s selfless identity that emphasizes the next guy up.
“You have to come in and attack,” he said. “If you don’t, I’m going to the next guy. If you’re not getting the job at the plate done, I’m going to the next guy. We know who we are. We gotta play like it and act like it.”
The Huskies are back in action Saturday and look to take the positive momentum into the middle game and take the series from the Phoenix. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. WRBB will have live coverage of the event with Max Schwartzberg and Jacob Phillips on the call on Sports+.