SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Huskies spent three days in San Diego without a cloud in sight. However, it was cloudy skies all weekend for San Diego State.
After travelling over 5,000 miles away from Boston to Hawaii, where Northeastern dropped three of four to the Rainbow Warriors, the Huskies headed back to the mainland for a four-game set in southern California, just a light 3,000 miles away.
Going into the series, Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine had one goal: “Hit the reset button.”
“We were really disappointed after that last game [in Hawaii],” he said. “We’re [still] getting better. We’re playing great competition. Now [I said] let’s bring that into this weekend and put Hawaii behind us.”
Behind an 8-hit weekend for sophomore Ryan Gerety and a four-homer series for junior Cam Maldonado, it’s safe to say the Huskies swept (pun intended) this objective off its feet as NU took all four games against SDSU, including a thrilling second game of the doubleheader on Saturday 12-9 in 12 innings.
Friday: Game One (10-4 NU)
For game one, Glavine gave the ball to graduate student Jordan Gottesman, who tossed 3.1 frames with six strikeouts while allowing two earned runs.
Redshirt freshman backstop Will Fosberg dominated in the box, smacking two home runs for his first collegiate hits en route to a 10-4 Northeastern win to open the series.
Then, things turned chaotic.
Game Two (9-6 NU)
With some rare San Diego rain on Thursday, the baseball gods scheduled an 18-inning doubleheader for Saturday. However, they changed their minds as game three went 12 innings, leaving NU, SDSU, and myself (yes, I called 21 innings of baseball in one day), exhausted.
Graduate pitcher Will Jones toed the slab for Northeastern in game one of the doubleheader and tossed five innings, allowing six runs (five earned).
The Huskies never trailed once in the contest with the help of back-to-back home runs in the first frame with two outs; first, a three-run shot off the bat of junior Jack Goodman before redshirt Harrison Feinberg followed up by connecting on his fifth of the year.
The Aztecs pulled within one run late, but Maldonado deposited his second opposite-field round-tripper of the game to give NU some much-needed insurance.
With all the noise of the Husky bats, the bullpen went underappreciated. Senior Brett Dunham tossed three perfect innings in relief, and senior closer Jack Beauchesne shut the door with a scoreless ninth to keep momentum in Northeastern’s favor for the entiretyof the doubleheader.
Game Three (12-9 NU in 12 innings)
After a “normal” first two games of the series, the Huskies went into the third game of the set hungry to secure the series win.
Approximately one hour after the game two triumph, a four-hour,17-minute back-and-forth battle commenced. With the intent to save arms, Glavine stretched out junior starter Aiven Cabral, who did his job by tossing 6.1 frames with five earned runs.
Maldonado started the contest with fireworks and popped his third home run of the day in the first inning to give NU a 1-0 lead. However, SDSU took their first lead of the doubleheader 3-2 in the home half of the third on a CJ Moran RBI single.
Seven lead changes later, in the top of the 12th frame, the Huskies exploded for five runs.
Freshman Carter Bentley picked up his first collegiate hit and laced a two-RBI double down the left field line before junior Carmelo Musacchia followed up with a two-run two-bagger of his own, plating senior Justin Bosland and Bentley.
Gerety supplied Northeastern’s 12th and final run with a sacrifice fly, and the Huskies held on in the bottom of the inning despite two SDSU runs.
Once again, under the radar performances kept NU in the game; Goodman followed his long ball in game one of the doubleheader with death by a thousand cuts in the night game, going 5-for-7 at the dish with an RBI. Graduate hurler Cooper McGrath tossed four strong innings of one-run baseball in long relief.
Game Four (8-5 NU)
With brooms partially poking out of the closet door, Glavine went to senior ace Jack Bowery to give NU the best chance at a happy redeye flight home in the evening.
The southpaw hurled five frames and surrendered three earned runs. After four lead changes in as many innings to open the game, sophomore Chris Walsh picked an RBI on a hit by pitch to give Northeastern a 4-3 advantage.
While the Aztecs never led in the game, SDSU pulled within one run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it a 6-5 contest.
The Huskies began the eighth strong with a leadoff single by Fosberg before chaos ensued: a strike ‘em out throw ‘em out with Musacchia at the dish, putting two down and nobody on base.
Nevertheless, the duo of Gerety and Maldonado played hero; Gerety roped a single through the right side before Maldonado launched his fourth opposite-field homer of the series to give Northeastern an 8-5 lead.
Junior Charlie Walker continued his excellent relief appearance (3.0 IP, 0 R) and closed the game for a four-game series sweep of SDSU.
Glavine’s Thoughts
After winning 2023 CAA Rookie of the Year honors, Maldonado regressed tremendously in the first half of his sophomore season, hitting just .160 in the first two months of play. However, the slugger caught fire in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, and Glavine believes he continues to improve every day.
“I just see a confident kid that’s even better than he was last year,” he said of Maldonado following the final game at SDSU. “We’re banged up, sore, and exhausted. You got a kid on the mound throwing 95 to 98, and for [Maldonado] to be able to take a swing like that on a pitch like that, it’s incredibly impressive.”
Additionally, in 2024, Gerety played in the shadow of now-Los Angeles Dodger Mike Sirota. Not only has the jump from rookie to sophomore been monumental skill-wise, but Gerety has grown largely as an offensive facilitator and leader.
“[Gerety’s] a guy you need on your team every year,” Glavine said. “One of the biggest hits this weekend was his in the ninth inning, and then Maldo pops a home run. He’s the energy guy for us, and we need him to continue to be.”
With four games in Hawaii before the doubleheader and extra innings on Saturday, Glavine looked at SDSU as an opportunity to introduce new arms into the college realm.
“It’s a grind,” he said. “We brought 32 guys on this trip. All 32 played or pitched at some point. That’s another reason why we got better out there on the mound. You got guys making their collegiate debuts all week long. The pitching staff and player strength are awesome. We’re deep.”
Northeastern returns to the East Coast on Wednesday when they hit the road again to take on Bryant. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.