Northeastern junior Jordan Thomson had a masterful performance on the mound, striking out five batters and scattering two hits over seven innings for a complete-game shutout, as the Huskies downed visiting Hartford, 3-0, in game 1 of an America East doubleheader at Friedman Diamond Sunday.
NU improved to 10-17 overall and 4-7 in the conference, while the Hawks fell to 4-23-1 and 2-5.
Thomson is now 2-4 with three complete games. His counterpart, Hartford lefty Brian Mascaro (1-6), pitched well, giving up three earned runs on five hits over six innings.
Mike Steinberg, Omar Pena and Arman Sidhu each went 1-2 for the Huskies. Pena scored twice and hit a solo homer in the sixth inning.
NU struck for two runs in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Pena walked and Jeff Heriot followed with a bloop single to right field. After Tim Bush flied out to shallow center field, Jeff Maher ripped a two-run, two-out double down the first base line to break the scoreless tie and give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
In the top of the fifth, Thomson faced his first serious threat of the game. He walked the first two batters, putting runners on first and second with no outs. After a brief visit from Coach Neil McPhee and catcher Matt Morizio, Thomson settled down and fanned the next batter. Thomson then induced a 1-4-3 double play to get out of the jam unscathed.
Pena launched a solo homer over the bullpen in left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth for the Huskies. Pena's homer extended NU's HR streak to six games and gave the Huskies a 3-0 lead.
Hartford 0 (4-23-1,2-5)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Cory Parker cf............ 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Matt Denorfia ss.......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 4
Ron Acabbo 3b............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Ryan Cuscovitch 1b........ 1 0 0 0 1 0 6 1
Ryan Waldron dh........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Brian Eck c............... 2 0 1 0 1 0 3 1
Josh Topp lf.............. 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Steve Moyer rf............ 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Luke Trahan 2b............ 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
Brian Mascaro p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Totals.................... 20 0 2 0 4 5 18 10
Northeastern 3 (10-17,4-7)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Mike Steinberg dh......... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Emanuele rf......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Omar Pena 2b.............. 2 2 1 1 1 0 3 7
Jeff Heriot cf............ 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Tim Bush 1b............... 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Jeff Maher 3b............. 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 1
Arman Sidhu ss............ 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 3
Matt Morizio c............ 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 1
Brad Czarnowski lf........ 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Jordan Thomson p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Totals.................... 21 3 5 3 2 3 21 14
Score by innings: R H E
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Hartford 000 000 0 - 0 2 0
Northeastern 000 201 - 3 5 0
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DP - Northeastern 2. LOB - Hartford 4; Northeastern 3.
2B - Maher.
HR - Pena(2).
SB - Steinberg. CS - Parker; Steinberg; Sidhu.
Hartford IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Brian Mascaro....... 6.0 5 3 3 2 3 21 24
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Jordan Thomson...... 7.0 2 0 0 4 5 20 25
Win - Thomson 2-4. Loss - Mascaro 1-6. Save - None.
HBP - by Thomson (Cuscovitch); by Mascaro (Steinberg).
Start: 1 p.m. Time: 1:45 Attendance: 175
Play-by-play
Hartford inning 1
Parker grounded out to 2b. Denorfia struck out swinging. Acabbo singled to
center field. Cuscovitch hit by pitch; Acabbo advanced to second. Waldron
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern inning 1
Steinberg hit by pitch. Emanuele struck out swinging, interference;
Steinberg out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. Pena grounded out to 3b.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Hartford inning 2
Eck grounded out to 2b. Topp grounded out to 2b. Moyer grounded out to p.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 2
Heriot flied out to rf. Bush flied out to lf. Maher grounded out to ss. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Hartford inning 3
Trahan struck out swinging. Parker walked. Parker out at second c to 2b,
caught stealing. Denorfia struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Northeastern inning 3
Sidhu singled to shortstop. Sidhu out at second p to 1b to ss, caught
stealing. Morizio walked. Czarnowski struck out swinging. Steinberg
reached on a fielder's choice; Morizio out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Hartford inning 4
Acabbo grounded out to ss. Cuscovitch grounded out to 2b. Waldron popped
up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 4
Emanuele grounded out to ss. Pena walked. Heriot singled to right field;
Pena advanced to second. Bush flied out to cf. Maher doubled down the rf
line, 2 RBI; Heriot scored; Pena scored. Sidhu flied out to rf. 2 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Hartford inning 5
Eck walked. Topp walked; Eck advanced to second. Moyer struck out looking.
Trahan grounded into double play p to 2b to 1b; Topp out on the play. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern inning 5
Morizio grounded out to 2b. Czarnowski struck out looking. Steinberg
singled to center field. Steinberg stole second. Emanuele grounded out to
ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Hartford inning 6
Parker grounded out to 3b, bunt. Denorfia grounded out to 2b. Acabbo flied
out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 6
Pena homered to left field, RBI. Heriot flied out to rf. Bush grounded out
to 2b. Maher flied out to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Hartford inning 7
Cuscovitch walked. Waldron reached on a fielder's choice; Cuscovitch out at
second ss to 2b. Eck singled to right field; Waldron advanced to second.
Topp grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Eck out on the play. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
