Northeastern faced another midweek opponent in the Rhode Island Rams, returning to Friedman Diamond less than 24 hours after defeating Central Connecticut
Sophomore Hayden Smith made his first career start as a Husky, and was shaky. A solo home run off the bat of sophomore Eric Genther got the scoring started for the Rams, and the Huskies found themselves trailing early by one run.
Northeastern was quick to respond, and jumped out to a 2-1 lead an inning later through a massive two-run home run by redshirt sophomore Jack Thorbahn. Thorbahn’s opposite field blast was followed up by a two-run shot from senior Danny Crossen. The pair of homers was enough for the Huskies to find themselves with a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning.
The home run was a stylish way to extend Crossen’s hitting streak, which now stood at 21 games.
“It’s just impressive,” said head coach Mike Glavine. “He’s the guy you want up at all times at this point. Our offense wasn’t great today, but Danny made us go.”
While Smith’s day was done after only two innings, the Northeastern bullpen was solid against Rhode Island bats. Sophomore Jack Beauchesne was stellar through two innings, pitching a scoreless pair of frames and earning the winning decision. Redshirt junior James Quinlivan continued to shine in relief, pitching his third straight scoreless inning.
“I think the [pitching staff] is getting there,” Glavine said. “We’re getting better, we’re getting deeper. I like what I’m seeing from the staff.”
Sophomore Brett Dunham took the mound in the top of the sixth, and the Rhode Island offense managed to get one run back. Redshirt sophomore Rob Butler poked a single against the shift to drive in a run, and brought the rams within two runs, 4-2.
The Huskies did not take kindly to this attempt at regaining the lead. They responded in the bottom of the sixth with a freshman Cam Maldonado triple, which drove in junior Luke Beckstein. Crossen added another RBI to his day by smoking a single into left field, scoring Maldonado.
Crossen hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 7-2, but his final RBI was not the last highlight for the Huskies in this game.
Freshman James Morice came in to relieve Dunham for what was only his second appearance in a Northeastern uniform. The rookie dazzled on the mound, pitching three scoreless innings and racking up six strikeouts. The only smudge on an otherwise spotless outing was a walk in the bottom of the eighth.
“We see him in practice, so we know what he can do,” Glavine said, “He has a wipeout slider. It is a plus pitch in every analytical, data driven, and what your eyes tell you. He can really help us out in the bullpen.”
The Huskies won the game 7-2, extending their winning streak to seven games.
Northeastern returns to conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Monmouth. WRBB will have written coverage of the series. The Huskies return to Friedman Diamond on Tuesday, for the first game of the Baseball Beanpot against Harvard.