BROOKLINE — Seven innings of one-hit baseball is all Northeastern needed to secure a series sweep of College of Charleston, defeating the Cougars 10–0 in a run-rule shortened Sunday matinee.
The victory was Northeastern’s 30th of the season and ninth-straight, extending a winning streak that dates back to April 9 at Central Connecticut. All but one Husky hitter notched a hit, while production came throughout the lineup as seven different Northeastern bats drove in at least one run.
“It’s a privilege to coach them and watch them every day… nothing affects them right now,” said head coach Mike Glavine. “They just show up every day, and to be able to get a team to be able to do that is special. They showed up all weekend.”
Graduate left-hander Jordan Gottesman took to the hill for the Huskies, striking out nine hitters and walking just one. The southpaw dealt just 79 pitches across seven innings, starting and finishing the Huskies’ third consecutive and NCAA-leading 12th shutout of the season.
Northeastern wasted little time putting runs on the board, with four Huskies crossing the plate in the second frame. The Huskies jumped on senior right-hander Aidan Hunter, putting balls into play early in at-bats.
Graduate first baseman Alex Lane set the carousel in motion, drilling an RBI ground-rule double into left field to score junior second baseman Carmelo Musacchia.
Lane’s double put two runners in scoring position for graduate catcher Gregory Bozzo, who registered an RBI in his first trip to the plate when he laid down an inch-perfect first-pitch bunt for a base hit. Sophomore right fielder Ryan Gerety followed suit at the top of the order with an RBI sacrifice bunt of his own, while junior center fielder Cam Maldonado notched an RBI on an outfield single that drove in Bozzo.
Glavine was pleased with his team’s work at the plate, saying “We want to be able to score runs in different ways, and we were able to do that today.”
Northeastern added a run apiece in the fourth and fifth frames, both of which came against sophomore reliever Hayden Thomas.
The remaining four runs all came against senior Davis Aiken, with Lane crossing home after Aiken committed a balk in the sixth inning. A sharp comebacker and a sacrifice fly brought in another two runs, before senior Jack Doyle drove in the tenth run of the afternoon with a single.
Two of the runs that scored in the sixth frame moved into scoring position by way of stealing second, with the Huskies stealing seven bases on eight attempts all afternoon.
The Huskies now look ahead to another conference opponent in Monmouth, and will travel to New Jersey to take on the Hawks for a three-game set. This is the first time the team has not had a mid-week game scheduled since early March.
“I’m going to tell them to get some rest,” Glavine said, while acknowledging the busy life of a student-athlete during finals week at Northeastern. “We get four more nights in our own bed before we have to hit the road.”
The Huskies will be back in action on Friday when they hit the road to take on Monmouth. Daniel Ku and Dylan Black will have your call from New Jersey, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.