BROOKLINE – A handful of mental mistakes and an offense that never got going did just enough to doom Northeastern as they fell to Boston College by a 3-2 scoreline Tuesday afternoon.
The contest marked the second straight midweek home loss for the Huskies, who fell to Merrimack in eerily similar fashion a week prior. Last week, it was a 4-3 final, but the same themes showed up: Northeastern made a number of mental errors, and the bats couldn’t complement what ended up being a pretty solid pitching performance.
This week, the Huskies never led. After Northeastern starter Andrew Basel worked a scoreless first, the BC bats got to him in the second, using a double from outfielder Jack Toomey to threaten before a flyout and a cue-shot, swinging bunt advanced him all the way home. With two outs, Northeastern third baseman AJ Aschettino couldn’t handle a ground ball, allowing Eagles designated hitter Carter Hendrickson to take two bags. However, Basel bounced back nicely, striking out catcher Cesar Gonzalez to get out of the inning.
Northeastern responded in the third. After freshman outfielder Carter Bentley beat out a well-placed infield single, Eagles starter Jacob Burnham walked both second baseman Chris Walsh and center fielder Ryan Gerety. With the bases loaded and nobody out, superstar outfielder Harrison Feinberg came through, flaring a soft line drive just in front of Toomey in right field to score Bentley from third and keep the bases juiced with no outs.
For any offense, having the bases loaded with no outs is pretty much the ideal scenario. While different analysts have different opinions, the consensus is, generally, that that outlook produces at least one run 85% of the time. Often, starting an inning that way is a springboard to a crooked number, a massive inning that dramatically swings the game.
It’s never a good feeling to be part of that 15%. With his last pitch of the afternoon, Burnham got veteran DH Matt Brinker to swing at ball four for the first out. Then, after gangly right-hander Luke D’Ancona replaced him, the Eagles caught a break. With shortstop Carmelo Musacchia at bat, D’Ancona’s first pitch sailed to the backstop. After hesitating for a split second, Walsh took off for home, but the wild pitch ricocheted cleanly back to Gonzalez, who flipped to the charging D’Ancona, tagging out Walsh by two steps. Three pitches later, Musacchia went down swinging, and the Huskies had officially failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity.
Freshman right-hander Cooper Maher came in for the Huskies in the fourth and held BC scoreless. In the fifth, after a fruitless Northeastern turn, Maher got into some trouble, walking nine-hitter Colin Larson before Julio Solier ripped a single to center field. Two batters later, star slugger Nick Wang punched one through the left side, scoring Larson to give BC a 2-1 lead.
That score would hold until the ninth. It was the Eagles who took initiative, adding an insurance run off reliever Andrew Rogovic through two walks, a wild pitch, and two sacrifice bunts. (That’s baseball, baby!) At 3-1, considering the utter dormancy of Northeastern’s lineup, this one felt all but over.
It wasn’t. BC’s Kyle Kipp came in to close, but issued a one-out walk to Aschettino, setting the stage for Bentley, who represented the game’s tying run. Befuddlingly, though, Bentley squared to bunt, advancing Aschettino to second… but sacrificing himself in a two-run game.
“[The decision to bunt] was on his own,” head coach Mike Glavine said postgame. “He was, I assume, bunting for a hit.”
Nonetheless, the inning went on. Down to Northeastern’s final strike, first baseman Anthony Ruggiero got hit by a pitch, before Walsh — also down to his final strike — slapped a base hit through the left side, scoring Aschettino. That brought up the top of the order in Ryan Gerety, with the tying run on second and the winning run standing on first base.
Gerety never even looked competitive. He worked the count to 2-2 before swinging through a high breaker, bringing this one to a close at a 3-2 final.
That clutch strikeout was a microcosm of Northeastern’s day at the plate, where they fanned a mind-boggling 16 times. NU’s top five hitters accounted for 13 of those 16, continuing a theme of lackluster production from the team’s veterans.
“[BC] was the best team today, give them credit,” Glavine said. “They pitched well, you know, 16 strikeouts. Just really, really tough at bats for us all day.”
To make things worse, Northeastern star first baseman Eric Cha, who hadn’t played in over a week, missed out again. Per Glavine, Cha is nursing a midsection (oblique) injury, and will at least miss the next week of games.
For an offense that seems to hit a slump every week or two, that’s a major problem.
Northeastern returns to action tomorrow at UMass Lowell, with first pitch set for 3 p.m.