The Northeastern University baseball team dropped a 6-4 decision to James Madison in its season finale on Saturday afternoon at Friedman Diamond. The NU loss eliminated the Huskies from having a chance at reaching next weeks CAA Championship in Wilmington, N.C. This marks the second consecutive season that the Huskies missed the post-season.
Through the first three innings of Saturday's game, it appeared as if it was going to be a slugfest, but neither team scored once each team reached into the bullpen for their stoppers in the fourth inning. After Ryan Quigley gave up six runs in the first three innings, the Huskies went to their the standout bullpen man, Sheldon McDonald, who pitched six scoreless innings of relief to keep Northeastern in the game throughout. He allowed just five hits and struck out nine in the outing. The Dukes saw similar success from their bullpen when Kevin Munson relieved Alex Valadja after he gave up four runs, including a leadoff homer to David Gustafson, over the first 3-2/3 innings. Munson went the remaining 5-1/3 innings and held the Huskies hitless over that span, allowing just two walks in the outing to pick up the win.
With McDonald's outing on Sunday, the sophomore standout finished the season with a team-best 9-2 record, a 2.86 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 56-2/3 innings pitched. He also held batters to a .231 batting average against, which was also tops on the team among qualifying pitchers.
Offensively, it was another record-setting day for the Huskies. Mike Tamsin broke the single-season hits record on his way to going 2-3 with two walks and two runs scored on the day. He finished with a Husky record 73 hits on the season and had a team-best .380 batting average, tying him with Hernan Guerrero for the third-highest single-season average in NU history. Mike Lyon also tied Chris Emanuele's single-season record for doubles when he cracked his 19th two-bagger of the season in first inning. Frank Pesanello added a two-run double in the first inning as well, giving him a team-best 51 RBI on the season and making him the fourth Husky ever to drive in 50 runs in a season.
The game also served as Senior Day at Friedman Diamond, as Northeastern seniors Lyon, Kris Dabrowiecki, Josh Porter, Bobby Carrington and Alex Fox each dressed for the last time in a Husky uniform, each of whom completed successful careers with the Huskies.
Northeastern completed its 2008 season with a 25-26-1 record overall and 12-17-1 in the CAA. James Madison finished the regular season at 34-17 overall and 20-9 in the conference. The Dukes finished the season second in the conference and will take on Old Dominion at the CAA Championship next week.
Statistics
James Madison 6 (34-17,20-9 CAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Foltz, Alex cf........... 3 1 2 0 2 1 3 0 0
Lake, Joe 2b............. 5 0 1 2 0 1 2 2 1
Sellers, Brett rf........ 2 0 1 1 1 1 4 0 0
Caseres, Steven 1b....... 5 0 0 0 0 3 6 0 4
Browning, Matt lf........ 5 2 4 1 0 1 2 0 0
Bujakowski, Lee dh....... 3 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
Knight, Trevor ph/dh.... 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Herbek, David ss......... 2 1 0 1 1 2 3 1 1
Garner, Brett c.......... 2 1 0 0 2 1 7 1 3
Fabiaschi, Mike 3b....... 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 1
Valadja, Alex p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Munson, Kevin p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 6 11 6 7 12 27 5 10
Northeastern 4 (25-26-1,12-17-1 CAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Gustafson, David lf...... 4 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 1
Tamsin, Mike 3b.......... 3 2 2 0 2 0 1 1 0
Lyon, Mike ss............ 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 3 0
Pesanello, Frank c....... 3 0 1 3 0 0 12 2 3
Porter, Josh 1b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 3 1
Dicesare, Tony rf........ 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1
Donaldson, James 2b...... 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 1
Zentek, Teddy cf......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Stokes, Brendan dh....... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Fox, Alex ph............ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Quigley, Ryan p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
McDonald, Sheldon p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 32 4 6 4 5 8 27 12 7
Score by Innings R H E
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James Madison....... 051 000 000 - 6 11 0
Northeastern........ 202 000 000 - 4 6 0
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DP - NU 1. LOB - JMU 10; NU 7. 2B - Lake(13); Browning(14); Fabiaschi(2);
Lyon(19); Pesanello(8). HR - Browning(8); Gustafson(6). HBP - Sellers;
Herbek. SH - Fabiaschi(4). SF - Sellers(5); Herbek(1); Pesanello(1). SB -
Browning(8); Fabiaschi(3). CS - Foltz 2(6); Herbek(1).
James Madison IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Valadja, Alex....... 3.2 6 4 4 3 3 16 20
Munson, Kevin....... 5.1 0 0 0 2 5 16 18
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Quigley, Ryan....... 3.0 6 6 6 2 3 12 18
McDonald, Sheldon... 6.0 5 0 0 5 9 19 25
Win - Munson (2-0). Loss - Quigley (2-4). Save - None.
WP - Valadja 2(2); Quigley(14). HBP - by Quigley (Sellers); by Quigley (Herbek).
Umpires -
Start: 12 PM Time: 3:00 Attendance: 180
Play-by-Play
James Madison starters: 6/cf Foltz; 7/2b Lake; 5/rf Sellers; 29/1b Caseres; 4/lf
Browning; 15/dh Bujakowski; 1/ss Herbek; 14/c Garner; 12/3b Fabiaschi; 13/p Valadja;
Northeastern starters: 9/lf Gustafson; 6/3b Tamsin; 7/ss Lyon; 11/c Pesanello; 32/1b
Porter; 20/rf DiCesare; 33/2b Donaldson; 8/cf Zentek; 17/dh Stokes; 18/p Quigley;
James Madison 1st - Foltz walked. Lake flied out to cf. Foltz out at second c
to 2b, caught stealing. Sellers hit by pitch. Caseres struck out swinging. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern 1st - Gustafson homered to left field, RBI. Tamsin singled to
left field. Lyon doubled to left center; Tamsin advanced to third. Pesanello lined
out to rf, SF, RBI; Tamsin scored. Porter lined out to 1b. DiCesare flied out to cf.
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
James Madison 2nd - Browning homered down the lf line, RBI. Bujakowski
singled up the middle. Herbek hit by pitch; Bujakowski advanced to second. Garner
reached on a fielder's choice, bunt; Herbek advanced to second; Bujakowski out at
third 1b to 3b. Fabiaschi doubled to left center, RBI; Garner advanced to third;
Herbek scored. Foltz singled to third base. Lake doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI;
Foltz advanced to third; Fabiaschi scored; Garner scored. Sellers flied out to rf,
SF, RBI; Lake advanced to third; Foltz scored. Caseres struck out swinging. 5
runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern 2nd - Donaldson flied out to rf. Zentek flied out to lf. Stokes
singled up the middle. Gustafson struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
James Madison 3rd - Browning singled through the left side. Browning stole
second. Bujakowski struck out looking. Browning advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Herbek flied out to cf, SF, RBI; Browning scored. Garner walked. Fabiaschi reached
on a fielder's choice; Garner out at second 3b to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Northeastern 3rd - Tamsin singled through the right side. Tamsin advanced to
second on a wild pitch. Lyon walked. Lyon advanced to second; Tamsin advanced to
third on a wild pitch. Pesanello doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; Lyon scored;
Tamsin scored. Porter lined out to ss. DiCesare struck out swinging. Donaldson
struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
James Madison 4th - McDonald to p for Quigley. Foltz walked. Lake popped up
to ss. Foltz out at first p to 1b to ss to 1b, caught stealing. Sellers struck out
looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 4th - Zentek grounded out to 3b. Stokes popped up to 2b.
Gustafson walked. Tamsin walked; Gustafson advanced to second. Munson to p for
Valadja. Lyon walked; Tamsin advanced to second; Gustafson advanced to third.
Pesanello popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
James Madison 5th - Caseres grounded out to 1b unassisted. Browning singled
down the rf line. Bujakowski struck out swinging. Herbek struck out looking. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern 5th - Porter grounded out to 2b. DiCesare struck out swinging.
Donaldson popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
James Madison 6th - Garner walked. Fabiaschi out at first 1b to 2b, SAC,
bunt; Garner advanced to second. Foltz singled to first base; Garner advanced to
third. Lake grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Foltz out on the play. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northeastern 6th - Zentek struck out swinging. Stokes struck out swinging,
out at first c to 1b. Gustafson popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
James Madison 7th - Sellers singled to left center. Caseres grounded out to
2b; Sellers advanced to second. Browning doubled to right field; Sellers advanced to
third. Knight pinch hit for Bujakowski. Knight walked. Herbek struck out swinging.
Garner struck out looking. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Northeastern 7th - Tamsin walked. Lyon flied out to cf. Pesanello lined out
to lf. Porter struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
James Madison 8th - Fabiaschi singled to left field. Foltz struck out
looking; Fabiaschi stole second. Lake struck out swinging. Sellers intentionally
walked. Caseres struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northeastern 8th - DiCesare flied out to rf. Donaldson flied out to rf.
Zentek flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
James Madison 9th - Browning struck out looking. Knight to dh. Knight
grounded out to ss. Herbek walked. Herbek out at second c to 2b, caught stealing.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern 9th - Fox pinch hit for Stokes. Fox grounded out to 2b.
Gustafson struck out swinging. Tamsin grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
