BROOKLINE — Powered by efficient pitching and witty baserunning, Northeastern opened their first home series of the season with a 5-0 victory over Harvard.
Graduate student Will Jones earned the start for the Huskies, entering Friday’s contest with an impressive 4-0 record and a 2.57 ERA through four starts. When his work for the day was complete, the southpaw had continued that trend, hurling five scoreless innings, striking out nine while surrendering just two hits and zero walks.
The first of those hits came rocketing off the bat of Harvard’s senior leadoff hitter George Cooper. Cooper, sizing up the first offering of the game, shot a triple into the right center field gap that sent outfielders Ryan Gerety and Cam Maldonado scrambling.
Cooper later tagged Jones for a double in the third frame, ending the game a home run shy of the cycle and the lone Crimson player to record a hit.
Despite the early scare, Jones commanded the zone. He quickly responded by retiring the next three batters, striking out two and leaving Cooper stranded 90 feet from breaking the deadlock. Efficient pitching was the standard from Jones, who delivered just 62 pitches across his five innings.
Keeping up with the Joneses isn’t for everyone, but Charlie Walker proved he was up for the task. The junior right-hander replaced Jones to begin the sixth inning, posting four scoreless innings while amassing five strikeouts and surrendering just one hit. With the performance, Walker earned the first save of his collegiate career and maintained his 0.00 ERA on the season.
“On a Friday it’s great to be able to turn to those guys,” said head coach Mike Glavine. “To start the weekend you don’t want to use too many, so those guys were awesome — they gave our offense a chance to sort of get into the game.”
While the pitching staff turned in one of its best performances of the year, offensive production came at a premium at times for Northeastern.
A one, two, three inning offered a disappointing start at the plate for the Huskies, but it nearly reaped further consequences. After a close play at first ended the inning, Maldonado reared up and clenched his leg along the right field foul line. The power hitter returned to assume his centerfield position, but later exited the game as the Northeastern offense came to life.
Glavine suggested the decision to remove Maldonado from the game was largely precautionary, praising his outfielder’s work ethic in practices and games before adding “there’s no sense in risking anything this early before conference play.”
The Huskies put one run on the scoreboard early, albeit unconventionally. After lacing a leadoff double to open up the bottom of the second inning, junior shortstop Jack Goodman stole third base before sliding into home plate on a subsequent wild pitch. The Huskies appear to have scouted Harvard’s opening nine games well, with the Crimson entering Friday’s contest with 16 wild pitches and 21 stolen bases against, the second-most of any Ivy League team.
Goodman’s alert baserunning opened up a 1-0 lead for the Huskies, who carried the tight lead into the fifth inning. A pair of bases-loaded opportunities against junior starter Callan Fang went by the wayside for Glavine’s team, once in the form of a strikeout by graduate student Alex Lane and again when Goodman rifled a comebacker that displanced Fang’s glove but not his ability to complete the out.
“We tend to almost every single time get two strikes on us in those situations,” Glavine said about Northeastern’s work at the plate with runners in scoring position. “I’d like to see us start to get a little better in that situation and that’s the next step.”
The score exploded, however, in the fifth inning, and its primary cause was more crafty baserunning. Looping a hit into center field, redshirt junior left fielder Harrison Feinberg took advantage of Harvard senior center fielder Matt Giberti’s missed diving grab to reach second base.
Shortly after, Maldonado laced a single into left center field, advancing Feinberg to place runners on the corners. The heart of the order continued to get hot, with Goodman sending a ground-rule double to the deepest part of the park in right center field, moving Maldonado to third and sending Feinberg across the plate to extend the lead to 2-0.
Junior second baseman Carmelo Musacchia reached base next, loading the bases for the third occasion. His steal of second forced an errant throw and brought Maldonado home, before Lane grounded into a fielder’s choice and drove in Goodman.
Musacchia was later rewarded for his aggressive baserunning, trotting home from third when sophomore reliever Ryan McHugh balked.
“We give all our guys the green light — I don’t give signs,” Glavine said. “Speed never slumps, and until we get this offense really clicking, we gotta be able to run, run, run, run, put pressure on the other team.”
The Huskies will return to action Saturday, facing the Crimson with first pitch set for 1 p.m. Luke Graham and Andrew Fielding will be on your call on Sports+.