The Northeastern University baseball team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and didn't look back, cruising to an 8-3 win and earning a doubleheader split in the second of two seven-inning games vs. Rhode Island at Friedman Diamond Tuesday afternoon.
Mike Lyon and Frank Pesanello hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Lyon's a two run shot, that gave NU a three-run lead it would not relinquish. Pesanello's home run was his record 19th on the season, while Lyon's was his 13th, tying him for the fourth most homers in a season by a Husky. It was also the 31st home run of the shortstop's career, tying him with Dan Milano for third all time in Northeastern history.
Tony DiCesare was also a big contributor on offense, going 3-4 with two doubles and three RBI. James Donaldson also picked up his first triple of the year in the winning effort.
Tyler Thornton started and won the first game of his career for the Huskies, going four innings and giving up just two hits, one earned run and one walk to go along with two strikeouts. Aaron Greenblatt relieved Thornton with a solid two-inning relief stint in which he gave up one run, did not walk a batter and struck out four. Dan Zehr closed out the game with a scoreless ninth in which he struck out two including the final batter of the game on a called third strike.
The Huskies improved to 24-24-1 on the season, while the Rams fell to 28-23-1 overall. Northeastern begins its final regular season series on Thursday at Friedman Diamond against CAA foe James Madison. NU must win at least two of the three games in order to have a chance at reaching the CAA Championship. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Statistics
Rhode Island 3 (28-23-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Kenny Burns cf........... 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 4
Oliver Palmer 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Nick Greenwood ph....... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike O'Malley pr........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zach Zaneski dh.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Chris Parkinson ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Jeff Cammans 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
Dan Rhault ss............ 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 3
Evan Laude rf............ 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
Zoey Angulo rf.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0
Tom Coulombe lf.......... 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Ron Bracchi lf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Robert Noe c............. 2 0 0 1 1 1 7 0 0
Casey Ide 2b............. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Dan Rossignol p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ken Graveline p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gardner Leaver p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 25 3 5 2 1 8 18 1 8
Northeastern 8 (24-24-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Dicesare, Tony c......... 4 0 3 3 0 1 8 0 0
Tamsin, Mike 3b.......... 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Stokes, Brendan 3b...... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5
Lyon, Mike ss............ 4 1 2 2 0 2 1 3 0
Pesanello, Frank dh...... 3 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 1
Porter, Josh 1b.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 0
Gustafson, David lf...... 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
Donaldson, James 2b...... 3 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 2
Zentek, Teddy cf......... 2 1 1 1 0 0 4 0 0
Fox, Alex rf............. 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Thornton, Tyler p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Greenblatt, Aaron p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zehr, Dan p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 28 8 10 7 5 7 21 4 8
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Rhode Island........ 020 001 0 - 3 5 2
Northeastern........ 331 010 X - 8 10 0
-----------------------------------------
E - Bracchi(1); Noe(1). LOB - URI 8; NU 8. 2B - DiCesare 2(16); Porter(6).
3B - Donaldson(1). HR - Rhault(4); Lyon(13); Pesanello(19). HBP - Zaneski;
Cammans; Bracchi; Ide 2; Zentek. SH - Burns(1). SB - Pesanello(1).
Rhode Island IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Dan Rossignol....... 1.0 6 6 6 1 1 9 10
Ken Graveline....... 3.0 2 1 1 1 6 11 13
Gardner Leaver...... 2.0 2 1 0 3 0 8 11
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Thornton, Tyler..... 4.0 2 2 1 1 2 13 19
Greenblatt, Aaron... 2.0 2 1 1 0 4 8 9
Zehr, Dan........... 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 4 4
Win - Thornton (1-0). Loss - Rossignol (3-2). Save - None.
WP - Rossignol(3); Graveline(2); Leaver 2(3); Thornton 2(3); Greenblatt(1). HBP
- by Thornton (Zaneski); by Thornton (Cammans); by Thornton (Ide); by Graveline
(Zentek); by Thornton (Ide); by Greenblatt (Bracchi). BK - Thornton(1). PB -
DiCesare(7).
Umpires -
Start: 3:10 PM Time: 2:05 Attendance: 55
Rossignol faced 4 batters in the 2nd.
Play-by-Play
Rhode Island starters: 1/cf Burns; 8/3b Palmer; 17/dh Zaneski; 3/1b Cammans; 10/ss
Rhault; 27/rf Laude; 29/lf Coulombe; 28/c Noe; 12/2b Ide; 11/p Rossignol;
Northeastern starters: 20/c DiCesare; 6/3b Tamsin; 7/ss Lyon; 11/dh Pesanello; 32/1b
Porter; 9/lf Gustafson; 33/2b Donaldson; 8/cf Zentek; 5/rf Fox; 16/p Thornton;
Rhode Island 1st - Burns struck out looking. Palmer grounded out to 3b.
Zaneski hit by pitch. Cammans hit by pitch; Zaneski advanced to second. Cammans
advanced to second; Zaneski advanced to third on a balk. Rhault flied out to cf.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern 1st - DiCesare struck out looking. Tamsin walked. Lyon homered
to left center, 2 RBI; Tamsin scored. Pesanello homered down the lf line, RBI.
Porter flied out to rf. Gustafson flied out to rf to right center. 3 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Rhode Island 2nd - Laude singled through the left side. Laude advanced to
second on a wild pitch. Coulombe singled to center field; Laude advanced to third.
Coulombe advanced to third; Laude scored on a passed ball. Noe grounded out to ss,
RBI; Coulombe scored, unearned. Ide hit by pitch. Ide advanced to second on a wild
pitch. Burns grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC, bunt; Ide advanced to third. Palmer
lined out to 2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern 2nd - Donaldson tripled to right field. Zentek singled up the
middle, RBI; Donaldson scored. Fox singled to left center; Zentek advanced to
second. Fox advanced to second; Zentek advanced to third on a wild pitch. DiCesare
doubled to right center, 2 RBI; Fox scored; Zentek scored. Graveline to p for
Rossignol. Tamsin lined out to lf to left center. Lyon struck out looking. DiCesare
advanced to third on a wild pitch. Pesanello struck out looking. 3 runs, 4 hits,
0 errors, 1 LOB.
Rhode Island 3rd - Stokes to 3b for Tamsin. Zaneski popped up to 3b. Cammans
flied out to cf. Rhault flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 3rd - Porter doubled down the rf line. Gustafson struck out
swinging. Donaldson struck out swinging. Zentek hit by pitch. Fox walked; Zentek
advanced to second; Porter advanced to third. DiCesare singled to shortstop, RBI;
Fox advanced to second; Zentek advanced to third; Porter scored. Stokes flied out to
cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Rhode Island 4th - Laude flied out to cf. Coulombe struck out swinging. Noe
walked. Ide hit by pitch; Noe advanced to second. Burns reached on a fielder's
choice; Ide out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern 4th - Angulo to rf for Laude. Bracchi to lf for Coulombe. Lyon
struck out swinging. Pesanello struck out swinging. Porter grounded out to ss. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Rhode Island 5th - Greenblatt to p for Thornton. Palmer grounded out to ss.
Zaneski struck out looking. Cammans lined out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Northeastern 5th - Leaver to p for Graveline. Gustafson walked. Gustafson
advanced to second on a wild pitch. Gustafson advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Donaldson walked. Gustafson scored on a throwing error by c, unearned. Zentek flied
out to rf. Fox flied out to lf. DiCesare doubled to right field; Donaldson advanced
to third. Stokes fouled out to 1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Rhode Island 6th - Rhault homered down the lf line, RBI. Angulo singled to
third base, bunt. Bracchi hit by pitch; Angulo advanced to second. Noe struck out
looking. Ide struck out looking. Angulo advanced to third on a wild pitch. Burns
struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern 6th - Lyon singled through the left side, advanced to second on
a fielding error by lf. Pesanello walked. Porter lined out to rf; Lyon advanced to
third. Gustafson flied out to rf. Pesanello stole second. Donaldson fouled out to
1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Rhode Island 7th - Zehr to p for Greenblatt. Greenwood pinch hit for Palmer.
Greenwood singled up the middle. Parkinson pinch hit for Zaneski. Parkinson struck
out swinging. O'Malley pinch ran for Greenwood. Cammans lined out to ss. Rhault
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
