BROOKLINE – After yesterday’s pitching duel in Game 1, more of the same was expected in the middle game of a potential CAA championship preview, with Aiven Cabral on the bump for Northeastern.
Cabral came into Saturday’s matchup with a 3.20 ERA and 48 strikeouts, best for 5th in the CAA. After getting into a jam in the first following a one-out double and a hit by pitch, he was able to find success with a 6-4-3 double play. Cabral worked fast, drawing weak contact from Charleston hitters through the first two innings.
The same could be said about Charleston’s starter Daniel Brooks, only allowing a Harrison Feinberg sacrifice fly through the first two innings. Both starters wasted no time between pitches and were ready to play.
As the third loomed and the Huskies leading 1-0, another pitchers’ duel seemed imminent. Brooks struck out designated hitter Matt Brinker on three pitches to start the bottom of the third. However, that all changed when singles from Ryan Gerety and Cam Maldonado set the scene for Harrison Feinberg.
Feinberg has been having a dream week for any ball player, with seven hits and two runs in the past four games, and he continued that momentum in Saturday’s contest. After being featured as the number-one play on Thursday’s edition of SportsCenter for his game-saving home run robbery on the potential tying run in Wednesday’s thriller against Kansas State, he launched one of his own against Charleston. On a middle-middle fastball on a 2-1 count, Feinberg drove a 400 foot no-doubter into deep left center field to bring home three runs and give the Huskies some breathing room with a 4-0 lead.
“Harrison Feinberg is a dude, and people should probably start paying attention to him,” said Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine. “There’s nothing that kid can’t do on the field right now. You’ve seen the defense this week, he’s got power, [and] his speed [is] so obvious. He’s a full ball player, and he’s tough as nails. He’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached and he works his tail off.”
That run support was all Aiven Cabral needed to get through a clean start, relying on contact to get him through 6.0 innings with an efficient 76 pitches. His command today wasn’t up to his usual marks, with only one strikeout and allowing five hits. On average, Cabral averages 0.956 strikeouts an inning, a stark contrast to what we saw today.
“He’s been pitching awesome, so there’s a high standard there, but he made the pitches when he needed to,” said Glavine. Cabral’s start Saturday was his tenth, the most of any Northeastern starter this season. His previous start against Hofstra came on short rest due to last Saturday’s game being pushed up to Friday. “We’ve been using him a lot, pitching him a lot, moving up days, so it was good to get him out of there to get him some rest and get ready for the next weekend,” said Glavine.
The hit parade continued for the Huskies, with RBI singles from Will Fosberg and Cam Maldonado to extend the lead to 6-0. Maldonado had his 19-game hitting streak broken in Game 1 on Friday, but he picked up right where he left off on Saturday going 3-for-5 with three singles.
Northeastern kept the bats rolling in the sixth inning with none other than Harrison Feinberg lacing a two-run double to cap off his six-RBI day and increasing the lead to eight.
As the game wore on, a mercy rule seemed possible, surprising considering that these two teams came into the weekend as the top two teams in the conference. The Huskies had runners in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth, but the top of the order with Maldonado and Feinberg was unable to capitalize.
Even though it was a 5-0 game, a non-save situation, when Jack Bowery came in relief in the top of the seventh, pitching for at least three innings and not giving up the lead allowed him to pick up the save to seal the 9-0 win for Northeastern.
The Huskies’ victory over Charleston improves their season win total to 30, including 17 in the last 18 games, marking their fifth-straight 30+ win season. Additionally, they extended their NCAA lead in shutouts to 11 games.
The Huskies’ lights-out pitching and fiery bats have come at the right time well into the second half of the season. As seeding begins to shake out for the impending CAA tournament in May in the upcoming weeks, the Huskies’ momentum — and dominance over the conference — couldn’t be more crucial.
The Huskies will look for the series sweep tomorrow at Friedman Diamond. Jacob Phillips and Chase Alexander will have the call at 1 p.m. on WRBB Sports+.