WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — “Dogs eat birds.” If you go to a hockey game between Northeastern and Boston College, you’ll hear this common chant from the Doghouse. On Saturday, Northeastern’s 10-0 win in game two of a three game series against Monmouth proved that statement applies to Hawks — and baseball — just as much as it applies to BC’s Eagles.
Northeastern came into Saturday’s game on fire, and the engines kept humming throughout the matchup. Coming off of a 16-run victory on Friday, the Huskies remained relentless and put up another ten runs in spectacular fashion, mercying the Hawks for the second day in a row.
Northeastern’s NCAA-leading 13th shutout was led by a stellar outing from junior starter Aiven Cabral who put up a shining six innings of four-hit baseball, fanning six batters and walking two. Cooper McGrath replaced Cabral in the seventh inning to close out the game, allowing one walk and no hits in the final inning.
McGrath has been a stellar closer for the Huskies this season, posting a 1.20 ERA and allowing only 10 hits in 15 total innings of work. It was more of the same from McGrath. The seventh started slow with a four-pitch walk, but then turned his engines on. McGrath threw a three pitch strikeout and then let Monmouth center-fielder Harry Padden ground into a routine double play to give the Huskies the win.
“They treated every inning as its own thing,” said head coach Mike Glavine. “These guys have been so good at it…we did a lot of really little things well to get to the final result.”
Continuing their offensive domination over Monmouth, the Huskies put up ten runs over seven innings. Like Friday’s matchup, Northeastern got on the board early and never let up. However, unlike Friday, which had been a home-run derby, Saturday’s ten runs came on consistent base hits that created a frenzy on the diamond.
The onslaught started with a Jack Doyle walk and a Carmelo Musacchia two-bagger to left-center before Matt Brinker sent an arcing ground-rule double to bring the pair home to bring the Huskies an early 2-0 lead.
It was more of the same in the third inning. In the next Huskies attack, Cam Maldonado reached on a fielder’s choice and quickly stole second. A Harrison Feinberg fly-out and an RBI single by Jack Goodman brought Maldonado around the bases for the Huskies’ third run. Goodman then stole second, capitalizing on a throwing error to advance to third. On two outs, Musacchia sent a single to left field to bring Goodman home for another two-run inning.
The game was a full-lineup effort, with every Northeastern starter getting on base at least once.
“[We’ve done] the same thing. Just a relentless attack and trying to have a nine-man attack,” said Glavine. “Nothing’s changed and we don’t want to ever rely on one guy…it’s gotta be all of that, and these guys are doing it right now.”
A quiet fourth inning was the calm before the storm of an explosive six-run fifth. Maldonado got the party started with a sharp double to right field. Without missing a beat, Feinberg roped a single to center field to position runners on second and third. A two RBI Goodman single scored them both. Doyle drew a four-pitch walk, and for extra flair, Goodman stole third — his third stolen base of the game — to put runners on the corners. All of this occurred before a single out was recorded
Even after Monmouth was able to start garnering defense against the Huskies, Musacchia scored Goodman on an RBI fielder’s choice. An error allowed Alex Lane to reach base, and Brinker brought them in with yet another bases-clearing double to push the score to nine-nothing. To round out the inning, Ryan Gerety brought in Brinker with an RBI double. When the dust cleared, the Huskies had exploded for a six-run crater that put the score at 10-0.
Although Northeastern didn’t score after the fifth, their ten runs combined with a knockout pitching performance to lead the Huskies to a mercy-rule victory after seven innings. The success secured the sixth-straight conference series win for Northeastern and represented their eleventh straight win. Clearly, the fire’s still burning for these Huskies.
Northeastern returns to Monmouth Field to seek a sweep on Sunday. Dylan Black will have the call at 1 p.m. from West Long Branch on WRBB Sports+.