Northeastern defeated Binghamton, 5-3, in the first game of a doubleheader on a Mike Steinberg walk-off home run on Saturday afternoon at Friedman Diamond.
Diego Garcia led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Miguel Paquette. With two outs, Steinberg ended the game with a shot to left field off Binghamton relief pitcher Chris Darling to give the Huskies the win.
With the Huskies trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Steinberg (2-4, two RBIs) led off the inning with a single to right-center field. Steinberg stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, Tim Bush knotted the score at three with a double down the left field line, scoring Steinberg. Jeff Heriot walked and stole second base to put runners on second and third, but NU couldn't take advantage and the game went into extra innings.
The Huskies struck early as a pair of freshmen gave NU starter Devin Monds some early support in the bottom of the first. With one out, Arman Sidhu drew a walk and was followed by fellow Mississauga, Ontario native Chris Emanuele, who smashed a home run over the 375-foot mark in left-center for a 2-0 lead.
Binghamton starter Mike Weglinski settled down after the first inning and held the Huskies in check, allowing only one hit over the next five innings.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to one in the top of the second as T.J. Kowalchuk took a Monds offering deep down the line in left for his eighth home run of the season.
Monds ran into trouble in the top of the third, loading the bases with one out. Kowalchuk came up big again for the Bearcats, producing two runs on what looked to be an inning-ending double play ball to Sidhu. NU's freshman shortstop stepped on the bag at second but his throw to first was wide and went into the Binghamton dugout, allowing Justin Smucker and Jay Balback to score and make it 3-2.
NU played some great defense in the sixth and seventh, saving a run in both innings to keep the Huskies in striking distance. With David Lewin on second base after a double with two outs in the sixth, Matt Caputo lined a base hit into right field that Emanuele gathered on one bounce. He gunned out Lewin at the plate for the third out. In the top of the seventh, Tony Berube tried to make it all the way home from first on a sharply hit ball to the gap in right-center by Joe Costello. Heriot tracked the ball down and hit the cutoff man, Omar Pena, who riffled it home to catcher Matt Morizio, nailing Berube at the plate to end the inning.
Monds went the first three innings before being replaced by Jordan Thomson, who pitched two scoreless innings. Bush picked up the win on the mound to improve to 2-2 on the year, pitching the last three innings for NU. Darling took the loss for the Bearcats.
• Game 2: Full story & box score
Binghamton 3 (10-39-1,2-19)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Tony Berube 1b............ 4 0 2 0 0 1 3 0
Justin Smucker ss......... 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
Jay Balback 3b............ 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
Joe Costello lf........... 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 0
T.J. Kowalchuk cf......... 4 1 1 1 0 0 4 0
Kyle Loucks c............. 3 0 0 0 1 2 6 0
Shawn Collyer pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Hark c............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tom Cummings rf........... 3 0 2 0 1 0 2 0
David Lewin dh............ 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Matt Caputo 2b............ 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 1
Mike Weglinski p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Darling p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Totals.................... 31 3 9 1 4 7 23 3
Northeastern 5 (23-21,11-10)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Mike Steinberg lf......... 4 2 2 2 1 1 1 0
Arman Sidhu ss............ 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 1
Chris Emanuele rf......... 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 1
Tim Bush 1b/3b............ 3 0 1 1 1 0 5 2
Diego Garcia 3b........... 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0
Jeff Heriot cf............ 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 1
Omar Pena 2b.............. 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Jeff Maher dh............. 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Nutting 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1
Miguel Paquette 1b........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Matt Morizio c............ 3 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
Devin Monds p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jordan Thomson p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Totals.................... 28 5 6 5 8 6 24 8
Score by innings: R H E
--------------------------------------------
Binghamton 012 000 00 - 3 9 0
Northeastern 200 000 12 - 5 6 3
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Note: 2 outs, 0 runner(s) LOB when the game ended.
E - Sidhu; Bush; Pena.
LOB - Binghamton 9; Northeastern 9.
2B - Costello; Lewin; Bush; Heriot.
HR - Kowalchuk; Steinberg(2); Emanuele(2).
SB - Steinberg 2; Heriot.
SH - Lewin; Paquette.
Binghamton IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Mike Weglinski...... 6.0 3 2 2 6 6 21 27
Chris Darling....... 1.2 3 3 3 2 0 7 10
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Devin Monds......... 3.0 4 3 1 2 5 13 15
Jordan Thomson...... 2.0 0 0 0 1 1 6 8
Tim Bush............ 3.0 5 0 0 1 1 12 13
Win - Bush 2-2. Loss - Darling 1-3. Save - None.
WP - Darling 2; Thomson.
Start: 12 pm Time: 2:50 Attendance: 83
Play-by-play
Binghamton inning 1
Berube struck out looking. Smucker struck out swinging. Balback flied out
to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 1
Steinberg struck out looking. Sidhu walked. Emanuele homered, 2 RBI; Sidhu
scored. Bush flied out to cf. Heriot doubled down the rf line. Pena flied
out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Binghamton inning 2
Costello struck out looking. Kowalchuk homered down the lf line, RBI.
Loucks grounded out to 1b unassisted. Cummings singled to third base.
Lewin walked; Cummings advanced to second. Caputo struck out looking. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern inning 2
Maher popped up to 2b. Nutting struck out looking. Morizio walked.
Steinberg reached on a fielder's choice; Morizio out at second ss
unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Binghamton inning 3
Berube singled to center field. Smucker reached on an error by 2b; Berube
out at second ss unassisted. Balback singled to left field; Smucker
advanced to second. Costello walked; Balback advanced to second; Smucker
advanced to third. Kowalchuk reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to
second on an error by ss; Costello out at second ss unassisted; Balback
scored, unearned; Smucker scored, unearned. Loucks struck out swinging. 2
runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern inning 3
Sidhu singled to center field. Sidhu failed pickoff attempt, advanced to
second. Emanuele walked. Bush lined out to cf. Heriot struck out looking.
Pena flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Binghamton inning 4
Thomson to p for Monds. Cummings walked. Lewin grounded out to p, SAC,
bunt; Cummings advanced to second. Caputo grounded out to ss; Cummings
advanced to third. Berube grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Northeastern inning 4
Maher grounded out to 2b. Nutting struck out looking. Morizio lined out to
lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Binghamton inning 5
Bush to 3b. Paquette to 1b for Nutting. Smucker reached on an error by 3b.
Balback struck out looking. Smucker advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Costello reached on a fielder's choice; Smucker out at third 3b unassisted,
interference. Kowalchuk flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Northeastern inning 5
Steinberg walked. Sidhu fouled out to 3b. Emanuele struck out swinging;
Steinberg stole second. Bush walked. Heriot lined out to rf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Binghamton inning 6
Garcia to 3b for Bush. Bush to p for Garcia. Garcia to 3b for Maher. /
for Bush. Bush to p for Thomson. Loucks struck out swinging. Cummings
popped up to 2b. Lewin doubled down the rf line. Caputo singled to right
field; Lewin advanced to third, out at home rf to c. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern inning 6
Pena struck out looking. Bush to p for Garcia. Garcia to 3b for Maher. /
for Bush. Garcia walked. Paquette lined out to 2b. Morizio flied out to
cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Binghamton inning 7
Berube singled to left field. Smucker reached on a fielder's choice; Berube
out at second p to ss. Balback flied out to cf. Costello doubled; Smucker
advanced to third, out at home cf to 2b to c. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Northeastern inning 7
Darling to p for Weglinski. Steinberg singled to right center. Steinberg
stole second. Sidhu lined out to lf. Emanuele grounded out to ss.
Steinberg advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bush doubled down the lf line,
RBI; Steinberg scored. Bush advanced to third on a wild pitch. Heriot
walked. Heriot stole second. Pena flied out to lf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Binghamton inning 8
Kowalchuk flied out to cf. Loucks walked. Collyer pinch ran for Loucks.
Cummings singled to left field; Collyer advanced to second. Lewin popped up
to 3b. Caputo grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern inning 8
Hark to c for Collyer. Garcia walked. Paquette out at first p to 2b, SAC,
bunt; Garcia advanced to second. Morizio grounded out to 1b unassisted;
Garcia advanced to third. Steinberg homered, 2 RBI; Garcia scored. 2 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
