The Northeastern baseball team (37-9, 19-2 CAA) swept the series against the University of Delaware Blue Hens (25-21,10-10 CAA) to keep the top spot in the CAA and extend its win streak to 16 games.
Northeastern won the first game of the series with a 5-3 comeback victory May 2.
No runs were scored through the first or second innings of the contest, with just one hit recorded between the teams.
In the top of the third inning, the Blue Hens jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Redshirt junior center fielder Jackson Tyer doubled to lead off the inning. A double by redshirt freshman third baseman Matthew Minckler advanced Tyer to third base, and senior right fielder Aaron Graeber’s sacrifice flyout brought Tyer in for the first run. Junior catcher LT Cockrill singled to score Minckler to double the lead.
The Huskies claimed the lead with a four run inning in the bottom of the third. Redshirt freshman catcher Will Fosberg tripled with the first at-bat of the inning. A double by sophomore right fielder Ryan Gerety scored Fosberg and put sophomore shortstop Chris Walsh on third, 2-1. Junior center fielder Cam Maldonado singled to score Walsh and tie the game at 2-2. Redshirt junior left fielder Harrison Feinberg’s double to right center field brought in Gerety and Maldonado to make the score 4-2.
Graduate student left-handed pitcher Will Jones recorded four strikeouts in the scoreless fourth and fifth innings.
Graeber and Cockrill scored to put two runners on base for the Blue Hens in the top of the sixth inning. A single by junior second baseman Aiden Stewart scored Graeber, cutting Northeastern’s lead down to one run.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, junior second baseman Carmelo Musacchia walked before being brought in by junior designated hitter Matt Brinker, making the score 5-3.
Both teams failed to score in the final three innings, delivering the win to the Huskies.
During their senior day game, Northeastern defeated the Blue Hens 10-2 on May 3.
Junior right-handed pitcher Aiven Cabral took the win, pitching six innings and only giving up a run with four strikeouts. Senior left-handed pitcher Jack Bowery got the save, throwing three innings and giving up only one run.
Maldonado went three-for-four with three RBIs and a walk. Graduate student first baseman Alex Lane went one-for-three with four RBIs and a walk. Senior third baseman Jack Doyle and Brinker each added a RBI as well.
In the bottom of the first, the Huskies got the first run on the board when Maldonado hit a double, knocking in Gerety. Maldonado reached third on a throwing error before Doyle stepped up to the plate and hit a single through the right side and drove Maldonado in, putting the Huskies up 2-0.
After scoreless second and third innings, the Huskies tacked on another run in the fourth due to a flurry of errors by Delaware. Musacchia singled before back-to-back throwing errors put him on third. Brinker hit a double up the middle to drive Musacchia in and put the Huskies up 3-0.
The fifth was scoreless, but in the top of the sixth, Delaware got its first run of the game. With a leadoff solo home run, Delaware cut Northeastern’s lead to 3-1, but the Huskies were quick to answer back. The bottom of the inning opened up with back-to-back walks, followed by a hit-by-pitch to give the Huskies bases loaded with no outs. After the next two batters struck out, Lane stepped up and hit a double to left field, clearing the bases and increasing the Huskies’ lead to 6-1.
In the top of the seventh, Delaware added its second and final run of the game off an RBI groundout. Unfortunately for the Blue Hens, the Huskies countered again in the bottom of the seventh. After Gerety reached on a fielder’s choice, Maldonado drove him in with a double. After two walks and a hit-by-pitch, the Huskies had bases loaded. Another wild pitch led all runners to advance and put the Huskies up 8-2. After a four pitch walk for Brinker to give the Huskies bases loaded once again, a walk for Lane put the Huskies up 9-2 before the end of the inning.
Bowery kept the Blue Hens scoreless in the top of the eighth after a rough sequence gave them bases loaded. In the bottom of the eighth, the Huskies scored the final run of the game off a home run by Maldonado to make the final score 10-2 and hand the Huskies the victory.
Northeastern completed the sweep with a 10-0 victory in seven innings May 4.
In the bottom of the second inning, three runs by the Huskies opened up scoring. Fosberg led off with a single to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brinker walked and Fosberg went to third on a passed ball. Lane’s sacrifice groundout scored Fosberg to put the team up 1-0. Bosland was hit by a pitch to put two on base. Walsh bunted for a single, before a throwing error scored Brinker and advanced Bosland to third. Gerety earned a RBI with a sacrifice fly to bring in Bosland and make the score 3-0.
Lane doubled down the left field line, stole third and scored on a passed ball to put the team up 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Musacchia’s double to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning set up Brinker’s two run home run to extend the team’s lead to 6-0.
The Huskies scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to run-rule the Blue Hens and secure the series sweep.
A pair of singles by Musacchia and Fosberg put runners on first and second before they were advanced to scoring position by a throwing error. Brinker walked to load the bases. Lane singled to center field to score Musacchia, 7-0. Bosland was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, 8-0. Gerety walked to score Brinker, putting the team one run away from the run-rule victory. Maldonado finished off scoring with a single right field to bring in Lane.
With this victory, Northeastern’s win streak extends to 16 games — the longest in the nation.
“That’s pretty cool for a little team over here somewhere in Brookline,” head coach Mike Glavine said of the streak.
The Huskies will take on the University of Massachusetts Lowell (17-29, 8-13 America East) in a non-conference midweek contest May 7.
