BROOKLINE — Northeastern came into their fifth weekend of CAA play on fire, winning 15 of their last 16 and holding firmly onto first place in conference play 10-2. The heat hasn’t seemed to run out on them yet, with Friday’s game against The College of Charleston ending in a late-inning 4-0 victory.
The first six innings of Friday’s game were an archetypal pitching duel, with neither team able to score a single run. The game saw stellar performances from both Northeastern starter Will Jones and Charleston starter and recent CAA Pitcher of the Week Jake Brink.
Jones threw his longest game of the season thus far, going seven innings while allowing only four hits and one walk. Notably, he didn’t allow a single run — earned or unearned — in his Friday outing. Brink likewise put up strong numbers, going scoreless through six and only allowing two earned runs in the seventh for a quality start. However, Jones won out in the duel as Brink ran out of steam in the seventh.
“That’s what dudes do, and [Jones] was a dude today,” said Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine. “[He] just was a complete pitcher on the mound.”
The scoring began in the seventh when Will Fosberg launched a triple into right-center field, giving Northeastern a golden chance with only one out. A quick single by Carmelo Musacchia brought Fosberg in for Northeastern’s first run of the day.
The Huskies kept on rolling. Alex Lane took a hit by pitch to advance Musacchia to second, and a Ryan Gerety single brought him home to raise Northeastern to a 2-0 lead at the end of the seventh.
“In some ways you get a little more aggressive, and then in other areas you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t want to just sit back and let this game happen,’” Glavine said about his strategy during the pitcher’s duel. “You don’t want to wait for a run here. If you can help the guys out and create some offense, you want to do it.”
The eighth saw more scoring in the same flashy fashion. Another triple — this time from Harrison Feinberg — quickly paid off after a sac fly from Jack Goodman dug the Cougars further into a hole. The scoring was finally capped off by Jack Doyle who roped a homer into left field to make it 4-0 Northeastern.
By the top of the ninth, the damage had been done. Northeastern sent in closer Charlie Walker to finish off the game, and finish it off he did. Walker’s been immaculate for the Huskies this season, punching a 1.07 ERA in 33.2 innings and a mind-boggling 0.71 WHIP. In typical fashion, Walker made quick work of the Cougars, walking one but otherwise fanning them down with a flyout, a strikeout, and finally a groundout to complete the NCAA-leading tenth shutout for the Huskies.
The game came down to a simple factor of resilience between the top two teams in the conference in what for the first six innings shaped up to be a neck-and-neck battle. However, Northeastern’s bats, backed up by a stellar pitching performance, showed Charleston who would remain top dog in the CAA for another day.
The Huskies play game two of the series against Charleston tomorrow at Friedman Diamond. First pitch flies at 1 p.m. with Max Schwartzberg, Patrick O’Neal, and Daniel Ku on the call.