BOSTON – Northeastern is set for the last leg of its season-opening road trip with a visit to Port Charlotte, Fla., for the 2013 Snowbird Baseball Classic. The Huskies will play five games in six days while in the Sunshine State, including showdowns with Chicago State, Western Michigan, Valparaiso, St. Bonaventure and Villanova. Last season, NU played in a similar tournament in Auburndale, Fla., coming away with an impressive 4-1 record. Following the Snowbird Classic, Northeastern will travel to Norfolk, Va., to kick off the conference slate with a three-game series at Old Dominon.
Rapid rewind
Last week, the Huskies ventured to Ft. Myers, Fla., to participate in the annual exhibition game against the Red Sox in JetBlue Park. Northeastern played its closest game against the professional ball club in the 11-year history of the two sides meeting, losing by a score of 3-0. NU held the Sox, who featured their starting lineup, to just five hits, while getting four of their own off of Joel Hanrahan, Daniel Bard, Alex Wilson and Pedro Beato.
The next day began a three-game series with the UT Arlington Mavericks in Texas. The Huskies led by three runs twice in Friday's edition, but ended up dropping a 10-8 decision late in the game. In a doubleheader on Saturday, sophomore
Nick Berger tossed a complete-game shutout, going seven innings strong with two strikeouts in the 4-0 win. Game two, however, the Huskies were the victims of a shutout loss, falling 6-0 to the Mavs.
Nonstop Northeastern
While it's not a wholly unusal facet of a collegiate baseball, Northeastern's schedule hasn't allowed for much rest between games so far this season, especially with travel. Last week, the Huskies played four games in three days, in two different states. NU's slate in the near future features eight games in 10 days, split between Florida and Virginia.
Huskies in the Outfield
This season, Northeastern's three outfielders have produced a fair amount of offense for the Huskies at the plate this season.
Brad Burcroff (LF),
Connor Lyons (CF) and
Aaron Barbosa (RF) are hitting a combined 21-for-48 (.438) and are responsible for 12 of NU's 25 runs on the year.
Two if by groundball
The Huskies have done a good job at getting out of jams on defense this season, having turned five double plays in six games. Even though it was an exhibition game, the Huskies put on a show against the Red Sox, turning three double plays in seven innings against the MLB team. Both shortstop
Jason Vosler and second baseman
Michael Foster have been involved in all five double plays this year.
Honor society
Before the 2013 season even began, three Huskies caught the eyes of CAA coaches as
Aaron Barbosa,
John Puttress and
Jason Vosler (honorable mention) were all named to the Preseason All-CAA team. Barbosa also was named as New England's seventh-best prospect for the MLB Draft by the New England Baseball Journal. This week, sophomore
Nick Berger was recognized as the CAA Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in the 4-0 win at UTA.
The Florida Focus
The Huskies' visit to Florida will feature five games, all versus northern ball clubs, in the 2013 Snowbird Baseball Classic. On March 1, NU will take on Chicago St. to start things off. On March 2 it will be Western Michigan, followed by Valparaiso on March 3, and St. Bonaventure on March 4. After a day off, the Huskies will end things in Florida with a battle against Villanova on March 6. Northeastern is a combined 11-7 against its opponents, with all games being played in the state of Florida.
Chicago St. comes into the week with an 0-6 record, having been outscored by their opponents, 64-11. Offensively, Jake Peltz leads the Cougars, batting .556 (5-for-9) with three RBI. On the mound, Andrew Wellwerts leads the CSU charge compiling a 3.21 ERA with nine strikeouts. This will be the first meeting for the Huskies against the Cougars.
Western Michigan enters the Classic 1-7 on the year and 3-3 all-time against the Huskies. Brandon Cable leads the Broncos, going 6-for-15 (.400) with three RBI. With WMU's only win and 10.0 IP, Mike Moyer brings his 2.70 ERA and team-high eight strikeouts to Port Charlotte.
NU is 4-0 all-time against Valparaiso, who is 1-5 this season. Batting .308 (4-for-13), Andrew Bynum leads the way for the Crusaders with three RBI. Cole Webb is 1-1 on the season with a respectable 1.08 ERA and eight K's.
St. Bonaventure has accumulated a 1-3 record, and is led by Jason Radwan at the plate. Radwan is batting a team-best .444 (8-for-18) with two RBI. The Bonnies have spread the pitching duties around, but Ryan Winton has two appearances and the team's only win after 2.1 IP. Asa Johnson and Eddie Gray lead the team with four strikeouts each. Northeastern holds a slim, 3-2 lead in the all-time series.
Villanova is the only team in Florida this year to have NU's record, owning the all-time series against the Huskies, 2-1. Nova is 1-3 in 2013, having had four games cancelled. Tyler Sciacca is on a tear, batting .529 for the Wildcats with three RBI. Pat Young has two of the three starts this season on the hill, compiling a 3.18 ERA and four strikeouts in 11.1 IP for Nova.
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