BROOKLINE — The energy just felt different this afternoon at Friedman Diamond. After closer contests on Friday and Saturday, the Northeastern Huskies shut out the Delaware Blue Hens, winning a 10-0 drubbing via mercy rule in the bottom of the seventh inning. Northeastern was in command on the mound, in the batter‘s box, and on the basepaths from the first pitch of the afternoon, and the onslaught proved too much for an overmatched Blue Hens side that made 8 errors in just seven innings of play.
Southpaw Jordan Gottesman got the start for the Huskies, earning his sixth win of the season. In the words of a glowing Mike Glavine postgame, Gottesman “set the tone early.” The graduate student sat down the first six Blue Hens batters in order to open the game. No blood was drawn by either side in the first, but in the bottom of the second inning the home team came to the plate ready to do battle.
Freshman catcher Will Fosberg led off with a single to right field, moving into scoring position on a wild pitch and advancing to third on a passed ball. Designated hitter Matt Brinker drew a walk, putting runners on the corners for first baseman Alex Lane, who promptly knocked in Fosberg and advanced Brinker to second with a sacrifice groundout.
Senior utility man Justin Bosland got hit by a pitch, bringing shortstop Chris Walsh to the dish with runners on first and second. Walsh laid down a beauty of a bunt along the third-base line, digging out an infield single. Delaware starting pitcher Jonah Richardson threw down to first , but it was off-target and the Huskies benefitted from the error, bringing Bosland to third base and scoring Brinker for Northeastern’s second run. With runners once again on the corners and lefty Ryan Gerety on deck, Delaware head coach Greg Mamula made a call to the bullpen for left-hander Andrew Callaway. With a new pitcher in, Gerety still managed to bring through another run with a sacrifice fly and make it a 3-0 game before a Cam Maldonado strikeout ended the inning.
Delaware’s Jackson Tyer led off in the top of the third, sending the first pitch of the inning to center for a single. After a hit batsman and a sacrifice bunt, Gottesman found himself in a rare jam with runners on second and third and one out. However, the lefty remained calm, cool, and collected, striking out the next batter and retiring the side on an impressive snag after Hens catcher LT Cockrill drilled a line drive directly back at him.
Gottesman maintained his mojo on the mound in the top of the fourth, lining up and knocking down three straight Blue Hens to bring the Huskies back to bat. Leading off, Lane jumped at the first pitch he saw, knocking a double down the left field line. He swiped third base after a Bosland flyout and stole home on a passed ball, extending Northeastern’s lead to 4-0. With that, Mamula went back to the bullpen for right hander Ben Moyzan, who quickly finished off the inning without any further damage.
Although Gottesman surrendered a leadoff single in the top of the fifth, a textbook 5-4-3 double play on the next at-bat cleared the bases. Gottesman worked quickly from there, retiring the side without incident.
After Feinberg flew out to start the bottom of the fifth, Musacchia sent a double down the third base line and advanced to third on an out-of-control pickoff attempt With a runner in scoring position, Brinker worked the count full before blasting a long two-run homer over the left field wall, blowing the game wide open to a 6-0 Huskies lead. Lefty reliever Jake Pollaro eventually ended the inning for the Blue Hens, but the damage was already done.
An uneventful sixth inning gave way to a seventh frame that would turn out to be last ups for both teams. Two singles gave Delaware baserunners to work with in the top of the inning, but Gottesman managed to get out of the inning and cap off his stellar performance with a complete game shutout. It was the graduate student’s fourth game this season going for six or more innings while recording a goose egg in the runs column.
“He came out pumping right away and had good energy… we fed off that. He was really good,” Glavine said.
Coming to bat with a six-run lead, the Huskies did not take their foot off the gas. Musacchia and Fosberg got on base with back-to-back singles, and. another botched pickoff move brought both runners into scoring position. Brinker walked to load the bases for Lane, who sent an RBI single to center. With the bases still loaded and Lane representing the game-winning run on first, Mamula made one last call to the bullpen. Junior Evan Lewis entered the game but hit Bosland, forcing Fosberg home. A Walsh strikeout gave the Blue Hens a sliver of breathing room, but Gerety drew a walk to score Brinker and stretch the advantage to 9-0 with the bases still juiced.
Maldonado stepped up to the dish 0-4 with two strikeouts, a much quieter outing than his 3-4, 3 RBI romp on Saturday. All it takes is one swing of the bat though, and the centerfielder dug in to drill one deep into the right field gap, scoring Lane and bringing the game to a merciful 10-0 close.
“You gotta live and die by that kid. Cam’s the guy,” Glavine said.
For NU, the win marked their 16 straight victory — the longest active streak in the NCAA — and fifth straight CAA series sweep, continuing what has been an unprecedented run of dominance with what was one of their most complete efforts of the season.
“That was awesome… A relentless attack. That’s as good as it gets,” Glavine said, heralding Sunday’s performance as an unselfish team effort and a complete game in all facets. “Nation’s longest win streak? That’s pretty cool for a little team over here somewhere in Brookline.”
Northeastern fans certainly have a lot more to look forward to as the regular season winds down and the Huskies try to stay hot heading into the CAA tournament later this month.
The Huskies will be back in action at Friedman Diamond on Wednesday, May 7th with a 2 p.m. first pitch against UMass Lowell. Armaan Vij, Patrick O’Neal, and Amelia Ballingall will have your call on WRBB Sports+.