WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Fans at Monmouth Field were treated to some free baseball in Sunday’s series finale between Northeastern and Monmouth. After 11 long innings, Northeastern prevailed to secure the series sweep with an 8-5 victory.
NU had dominated Monmouth on Friday and Saturday, coming into Sunday’s game holding an aggregate score of 26-5. However, the Hawks sent in the big guns in the form of Sunday opener Ryan Mealy, their strongest starter who threw a complete game shutout against NC A&T on April 13 and had yet to record a loss in a start.
The Huskies countered with lefty Jordan Gottesman. Before Sunday, Gottesman hadn’t given up a run since April 6, and had a strong 2.64 ERA with a staggering 0.88 WHIP.
Despite a strong outing by Mealy, the first half of Sunday’s game was all Northeastern. From the start of the game until the end of the top of the fifth, Northeastern scored five runs, four unearned — mostly due to Monmouth’s trouble dealing with strong, gusting winds. It began in the top of the second when third baseman Jack Doyle shot a single down the third base line. A throwing error on a Carmelo Musacchia bunt advanced Doyle and he was brought home by first baseman Alex Lane.
“We had to play really well to win,” said head coach Mike Glavine. “We proved this weekend that we play tough.”
Three more runs scored in the third. After yet another throwing error, a Gregory Bozzo single turned into a two-bagger. Outfielder Cam Maldonado singled up the middle following a Ryan Gerety hit-by-pitch to score Bozzo. Gerety then scored after a Harrison Feinberg sacrifice fly. With Mealy now rattled, a quick stolen base followed by a rare balk brought Maldonado home to make it 4-0.
For good measure, the Huskies tacked on one more in the fifth, an RBI double from Feinberg. By the end of the first half of the game, another easy Northeastern victory appeared imminent.
But Monmouth had other plans. Suddenly, it was as if the momentum Northeastern had garnered was transferred to the Hawks. The Huskies’ bats went to sleep, and the home team came to life to chip away at the five-run deficit. Like looking in a mirror, a throwing error from the Huskies started what would become a three-run bottom of the fifth. Two more runs would score in the seventh to tie things up at 5-5.
It was a whole new ballgame.
“We couldn’t extend the lead, we didn’t shut [Mealy] down,” Glavine said. “Everything just started to slip away from us.”
The two teams were locked in a battle through the eighth, ninth, and 10th, with the bullpens clamping down. Jack Bowery handled half of the seventh and eighth, allowing two hits and no runs. He was followed by Brett Dunham who threw three beautiful innings, striking out five of the twelve batters faced and only allowing two hits. Both relievers were crucial in keeping the game going through extras as the Huskies offense failed to score runs.
“Bowery did a great job and Dunham did a great job,” Glavine said. “I give a lot of credit to those guys.”
In the end, the Huskies outlasted the Hawks in the 11th, when the bats awoke. The top of the inning began with a Maldonado single that stretched to two. He scored on a Feinberg RBI to finally break the 5-5 stalemate. Feinberg scored on a Musacchia RBI, and the second baseman found home on an error to end the inning 8-5.
Dunham shut the door in the bottom of the inning, sealing the win. After a walk and a single threatened to spark Monmouth, a Harry Padden flyout into Feinberg’s glove ended a grueling 11-inning showdown.
“We needed that,” Glavine said, praising the Huskies’ resilience. “We needed this type of game today, especially to come out on top.”
Northeastern returns to Boston this Tuesday to face Harvard University in the Baseball Beanpot final at Fenway Park. Max Schwartzberg, Jacob Phillips, and Zeno Minotti have the call. First pitch fires off at 7:05 p.m. on WRBB Sports+.