BROOKLINE – Northeastern took to Friedman Diamond one last time Saturday afternoon in their regular series finale. The Huskies clinched the third seed in the CAA tournament last weekend, but kept the momentum going, finishing the regular season stretch with a fourth-straight win
Although the visiting Stony Brook Seawolves came in fighting for their last chance at a postseason appearance, the Huskies showed no mercy, finishing off their series sweep in dominant fashion 12-3.
“We kind of knew we were going to be in the three-hole, but it was more like we want to go into the tournament hot and play great baseball and I thought we did that this weekend,” said Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine.
But it didn’t start out that way.
Stony Brook got on the board early, scoring three runs in the first two innings. However, the pair of unearned RBI singles, and a groundout from Evan Fox to score senior Ryan Micheli, were the only marks against the Huskies, and Northeastern starting pitcher Michael Gemma skated through his two innings of work with just one earned run allowed.
Although Stony Brook tried to edge ahead in those early minutes, Northeastern kept them in check, never letting the Seawolves get more than a two-run lead. Luke Beckstein led off for the Huskies with a home run over the left field wall, and the home team never looked back.
Northeastern burst into the lead in the third after reliever Jake Gigliotti pitched a 1-2-3 inning to give the Huskies the opening. Back at the top of their lineup, Northeastern added three more runs to take the edge 5-3. The tying run, an Alex Lane single, prompted a pitching change from the Seawolves as Ty Saunders replaced two-way player Erik Paulsen on the mound. However, Saunders couldn’t get the job done, letting four more runners score before his tenure came to an end.
One key to Northeastern’s win was getting solid hits in with runners on. With baserunners, the Huskies batted .435, well above the game’s overall .371 average. The Huskies also kept battling with two outs on the board. Batting .429 with two outs, Northeastern added a bit of a mental game to its offensive play, highlighted by back-to-back RBI extra base hits at the bottom of the fourth. Mike Sirota nailed a triple into center field, living up to the reputation as an offensive powerhouse he came into the season with. Tyler MacGregor scored him with a double following that, extending the first baseman’s national lead in doubles to 29.
MacGregor was Northeastern’s most successful batter of the game, going 3-for-5 and knocking in 3 RBI to bump his CAA-leading batting average up to .405.
“That’s quite an accomplishment,” Glavine said. “I can’t say enough about that kid, I don’t want him to leave … He’s shattered a bunch of records and to me, he’s the player of the year in the conference.”
With seven walks, two hit by pitches, and 13 hits, the Huskies got aboard frequently, and even as their lead kept growing, they stayed aggressive. Forcing their way into scoring position, the Huskies stole 10 bases, tying their season-high for a single game and maintaining their conference lead in that category.
The aggression didn’t bode well for the Seawolves, as they dealt with communication issues on the field and a slow reaction time from the catcher, repeatedly forcing them to jump over diving Huskies.
Northeastern had already clinched the series and a postseason berth, so the game was more about getting reps in than it was about adding a fourth win to their streak. The Huskies fielded seven pitchers, including Aiven Cabral, Charlie Walker, Dennis Colleran, Hayden Smith, and James Quinlivan. However, after Gemma and Gigliotti’s combined five innings, there wasn’t much for the rest of them to do, and each pitched only an inning or less, throwing 12 pitches at most.
“We had a plan,” Glavine said. “We would have kind of done the same thing no matter what the situation was … It was just great to see them all come in and pitch well.”
Right: Mika Podila/WRBB Sports
Although Stony Brook’s pitchers stayed out for much longer, led by freshman Nicholas Rizzo’s 74-pitch 2.2 innings, the shortest stint was the most successful. After finding themselves down 12-3, the Seawolves opted for righty Ty Stout to close them out, and the graduate student gave them their first and only 1-2-3 inning of the day.
By the final inning, both teams knew it was over and started emptying the benches. Stony Brook thanked its players with one last showing for the season, while Northeastern honored some of its seniors, pulling them for preservation before tournament season begins.
The three-seeded Huskies will travel to Wilmington, North Carolina this week, starting the CAA tournament with a Wednesday afternoon matchup against Hofstra. Northeastern took the series against the Pride 2-1 back in March, and will hope to further their postseason success in their 10th straight tournament appearance. Luke Graham and Patrick O’Neal will have live coverage from Wilmington when first pitch flies at 4 p.m.