BROOKLINE — Northeastern’s success continued as a dominant outing on the mound combined with timely hitting gave the Huskies a 6-2 win to secure the series triumph over Towson.
Starting pitcher Jordan Gottesman, a graduate student transfer from Endicott, delivered the day’s standout performance, putting up six innings, while giving up only one hit and one walk and striking out seven batters in the process.
“[Gottesman]’s been awesome. It’s been awesome,” said head coach Mike Glavine. “He’s been a perfect addition to us. He’s exactly what we’re looking for. He’s obviously talented, but he’s a culture guy. He’s really tough and competitive, and he’s a perfect fit for us in the Huskies.”
The game began as a pitching duel between Gottesman and Towson starter Dutch DeProspero. The first three innings saw only one hit — a single by Towson third baseman Ethan Brand — and seven combined strikeouts (four for Gottesman, three for DeProspero). For the second straight day, the Huskies’ bats started cold, as DeProspero shut down the first ten Northeastern batters in order. While there was some strong contact, the Huskies struggled to put runners on base early.
However, the tide shifted for the Huskies in the fourth inning. After Gottesman worked through a jam in the top of the inning, Cam Maldonado drew a walk and was quickly driven in by a Jack Goodman double and a Ryan Gerety RBI bunt single to open up the scoring.
Glavine praised Gerety’s performance in particular throughout the season and in this game against Towson.
“He’s been awesome,” said Glavine. “He can bunt, he can run, he can do a lot of different things; he can work the count when he wants to.”
During the third run through the lineup, the Huskies saw through DeProspero’s pitching and opened the floodgates.
Gottesman breezed through the top of the sixth with a 1-2-3 inning. Northeastern then exploded for five runs on five hits, stealing four bases in the process.
The scoring began with a single from Carmelo Musacchia who found home after a Maldonado double which saw him take third on the throw. Maldonado’s three-bagger was followed up by a walk from Goodman, who quickly stole second. Gerety continued the rally with a single, advancing Goodman to third and scoring Maldonado.
With the sudden burst of scoring, DeProspero was retired in favor of right-hander Nate Nabholz, but the Huskies’ bats continued to hum. After Gerety stole second, Harrison Feinberg roped a two-RBI single into left field, scoring both Gerety and Goodman to make it 5-0. Feinberg then stole both second and third in rapid succession, quickly putting pressure back on Nabholz.
With no outs in the inning, Northeastern wasn’t done quite yet. Even after Alex Lane and Will Fosberg struck out swinging, Gregory Bozzo hit a single to shortstop to bring home Feinberg,and take the Huskies up to a 6-0 lead to end the inning.
“I think the guys were just feeling it and feeling comfortable the third time around… And then we finally just got them out of the stretch.” said Glavine. “When we get teams out of the stretch, if we’re on, all of a sudden they start picking over because they know we’re running or they’re rushing to the plate. Then, we get better pitches to hit. So once we get guys on, we’re a different offense.”
After the sixth inning, Jack Bowery replaced Gottesman out of the bullpen. Bowery initially saw similar success to Gottesman, allowing only one hit and zero runs through the seventh and eighth innings.
Towson’s bats began to come alive in the ninth, but it was all too late. Though two sacrifice flies in the top of the ninth brought the score to 6-2, Bowery ended the game with a strikeout, locking down the save and the series win.
The Huskies will be back home at Friedman Diamond this Wednesday. First pitch flies at 2:30 p.m. against the UConn Huskies with Amelia Ballingall and Max Schwartzberg on the call.