Needing to win at least two-of-three games against James Madison to have a chance at reaching the post-season, the Northeastern University baseball team made a strong stride toward that goal at Friedman Diamond on Thursday afternoon, crushing the James Madison Dukes, 10-2. Kris Dabrowiecki and Sheldon McDonald combined for an excellent pitching performance, while six Huskies had multiple hits.
James Donaldson had a career day for the Huskies, as the second baseman went 4-5 with two doubles, a two-run homer and three runs scored, falling just a triple shy of the cycle. Mike Lyon blasted a three-run homer, his second straight game with a home run, while David Gustafson and Mike Tamsin each went 3-5 with two RBI and a run apiece. Frank Pesanello, Josh Porter and Teddy Zentek were the other Huskies with multiple hits, and Brendan Stokes added an RBI-single out of the nine-spot in the lineup to round out the Northeatern offense.
The Huskies desperately needed a strong outing from Kris Dabrowiecki on the mound and the senior captain provided, going 6-2/3 innings and allowing eight hits, two runs and three walks to go along with seven strikeouts. The win was the 21st of Dabrowiecki's career, moving him into fourth place all time in the Husky record book. Sheldon McDonald, who has been the Husky stopper out of the bullpen all season, provided a brilliant relief outing to close out the final 2-1/3 innings. The dominating lefty entered the game with two on and two out in the top of the seventh and proceeded to strike out the first five batters he faced, and struck out six overall. The only batter to reach base was Duke shortstop David Herbek, who drew a walk with one out in the ninth.
Several individual offensive records were either matched or set by Huskies in the game as well. Lyon's home run gave him 135 total bases on the season, surpassing Time Daley's record of 132 set in 1997. It was also the 32nd home run of the slugger's career, putting him past former teammate Dan Milano in sole possession of third all-time. Tamsin's three hits on the day gave him 71 on the season, which puts him in a tie with Chris Emanuele for the single-season record.
The Huskies got back over .500 with the win, improving to 25-24-1 on the season and 12-15-1 in the CAA. The Dukes dropped to 32-16 overall and 18-9 in the conference. The teams will face off again tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Friedman Diamond. Jeff Thomson takes the ball for the Huskies in another crucial game.
Statistics
James Madison 2 (32-16,18-9 CAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Foltz, Alex cf........... 5 0 2 0 0 2 3 0 0
Lake, Joe 2b............. 3 0 0 1 1 0 2 4 1
Sellers, Brett rf........ 3 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
Caseres, Steven 1b....... 4 0 1 0 0 2 6 1 6
Knight, Trevor dh........ 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
Langston, McKinnon 3b.... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Fabiaschi, Mike 3b...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Browning, Matt lf........ 4 1 1 0 0 3 3 0 0
Garner, Brett c.......... 3 1 0 0 1 2 8 0 0
Herbek, David ss......... 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 0
Wood, Justin p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hoffman,Kyle p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 33 2 8 2 4 13 24 8 9
Northeastern 10 (25-24-1,12-15-1 CAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Gustafson, David lf...... 5 1 3 2 0 2 0 0 0
Tamsin, Mike 3b.......... 5 1 3 2 0 1 0 2 1
Lyon, Mike ss............ 3 1 1 3 2 0 0 2 0
Pesanello, Frank c....... 4 0 2 0 1 2 11 2 3
Dicesare, Tony rf........ 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Porter, Josh 1b.......... 5 1 2 0 0 1 9 1 2
Donaldson, James 2b...... 5 3 4 2 0 0 3 4 0
Zentek, Teddy cf......... 5 2 2 0 0 1 3 0 1
Stokes, Brendan dh....... 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Dabrowiecki, Kris p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
McDonald, Sheldon p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 40 10 18 10 3 7 27 11 10
Score by Innings R H E
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James Madison....... 000 010 100 - 2 8 0
Northeastern........ 001 520 20X - 10 18 0
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DP - JMU 2; NU 1. LOB - JMU 9; NU 10. 2B - Foltz(11); Caseres(17);
Gustafson(15); Donaldson 2(9); Zentek(2). 3B - Sellers(2). HR - Lyon(14);
Donaldson(2). HBP - Stokes. SF - Lake(2). SB - Herbek(5).
James Madison IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Wood, Justin........ 3.0 7 4 4 2 2 16 18
Hoffman,Kyle........ 5.0 11 6 6 1 5 24 26
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Dabrowiecki, Kris... 6.2 8 2 2 3 7 26 30
McDonald, Sheldon... 2.1 0 0 0 1 6 7 8
Win - Dabrowiecki (2-4). Loss - Wood (3-3). Save - None.
WP - Wood(2); Hoffman(7). HBP - by Hoffman (Stokes).
Umpires -
Start: 2 PM Time: 2:42 Attendance: 70
Wood faced 3 batters in the 4th.
Play-by-Play
James Madison starters: 6/cf Foltz; 7/2b Lake; 5/rf Sellers; 29/1b Caseres; 2/dh
Knight; 18/3b Langston; 4/lf Browning; 14/c Garner; 1/ss Herbek; 22/p Wood;
Northeastern starters: 9/lf Gustafson; 6/3b Tamsin; 7/ss Lyon; 11/c Pesanello; 20/rf
DiCesare; 32/1b Porter; 33/2b Donaldson; 8/cf Zentek; 17/dh Stokes; 12/p
Dabrowiecki;
James Madison 1st - Foltz struck out swinging. Lake grounded out to 2b.
Sellers tripled to right center. Caseres struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern 1st - Gustafson struck out swinging. Tamsin singled through the
left side. Lyon flied out to lf. Pesanello walked; Tamsin advanced to second.
DiCesare flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
James Madison 2nd - Knight grounded out to 3b. Langston grounded out to 2b.
Browning struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 2nd - Porter flied out to lf. Donaldson singled to center field.
Zentek flied out to cf. Donaldson advanced to second on a wild pitch. Stokes
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
James Madison 3rd - Garner grounded out to 1b unassisted. Herbek struck out
swinging, out at first c to 1b. Foltz grounded out to 3b, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 3rd - Gustafson doubled down the lf line. Tamsin singled up the
middle, RBI; Gustafson scored. Lyon walked; Tamsin advanced to second. Pesanello
struck out looking. DiCesare fouled out to c. Porter lined out to cf. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
James Madison 4th - Lake out at first 1b to 2b to p. Sellers grounded out to
ss. Caseres doubled to left center. Knight singled to third base; Caseres advanced
to third. Langston popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern 4th - Donaldson doubled down the lf line. Zentek singled to
right field; Donaldson advanced to third. Stokes singled to center field, RBI;
Zentek advanced to second; Donaldson scored. Hoffman to p for Wood. Gustafson struck
out swinging. Tamsin singled to left center, RBI; Stokes advanced to second; Zentek
scored. Lyon homered to left center, 3 RBI; Tamsin scored; Stokes scored. Pesanello
singled to center field. DiCesare grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b;
Pesanello out on the play. 5 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
James Madison 5th - Browning singled up the middle. Garner struck out
swinging. Herbek struck out looking. Foltz singled to right center; Browning
advanced to second. Lake walked; Foltz advanced to second; Browning advanced to
third. Sellers singled to third base, RBI; Lake advanced to second; Foltz advanced
to third; Browning scored. Caseres flied out to cf. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
Northeastern 5th - Porter struck out swinging. Donaldson doubled to left
center. Zentek doubled to right center; Donaldson advanced to third. Stokes grounded
out to 3b. Gustafson singled to center field, advanced to second on the throw, 2
RBI; Zentek scored; Donaldson scored. Gustafson advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Tamsin struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
James Madison 6th - Knight singled up the middle. Langston grounded into
double play ss to 2b to 1b; Knight out on the play. Browning struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 6th - Fabiaschi to 3b for Langston. Lyon fouled out to 2b.
Pesanello singled up the middle. DiCesare grounded into double play 1b to 2b to p;
Pesanello out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
James Madison 7th - Garner walked. Herbek popped up to 2b. Foltz doubled to
right field; Garner advanced to third. Lake flied out to cf, SF, RBI; Foltz advanced
to third; Garner scored. Sellers walked. McDonald to p for Dabrowiecki. Caseres
struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern 7th - Porter singled to center field. Donaldson homered to left
center, 2 RBI; Porter scored. Zentek fouled out to 1b. Stokes hit by pitch.
Gustafson singled to third base; Stokes advanced to second. Tamsin grounded out to
2b; Gustafson advanced to second; Stokes advanced to third. Lyon walked. Pesanello
struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
James Madison 8th - Knight struck out swinging. Fabiaschi struck out looking.
Browning struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 8th - DiCesare grounded out to 2b. Porter singled to right
center. Donaldson lined out to cf. Zentek struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
James Madison 9th - Garner struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. Herbek
walked. Foltz struck out swinging; Herbek stole second. Lake lined out to cf. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
