Box Score
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Game 10 |
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Final Score |
Northeastern 6, St. Bonaventure 3 (W, Maki 1-0) |
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Records |
Northeastern 6-4, St. Bonaventure 3-6 |
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Next Game |
vs. Villanova (Port Charlotte, Fla.), March 6 • 10:30 a.m. |
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Northeastern rallied back from a 5-2 deficit to start the top of the eighth inning on Monday against St. Bonaventure, leading the Huskies to eventually outmuscle the Bonnies in 10 innings, 6-5. Northeastern used three runs in the eighth and three scoreless innings from captain and reliever
Dylan Maki to earn the win, moving the Huskies to 6-4 on the year.
Junior
Matt Cook, earning his first start of 2013, battled brilliantly on the mound for 5.0 innings, tossing six strikeouts and walking just three batters without allowing a run. Cook's ability to keep the Bonnies at bay allowed NU to gather some momentum at the plate. Offensively, five different Huskies recorded RBI hits, sending home six different runners in the all-around team win. Getting the call at the DH spot, senior
Justin Kessler belted a game-high three hits in five at bats for Northeastern.
Both teams struggled to get anything going off each other's pitchers in the first two innings, but then NU struck first, thanks to a
Connor Lyons double.
Aaron Barbosa drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Lyons made the Bonnies pay by burying a Steven Klimek pitch into right center field, sending Barbosa home.
The Huskies scored again in the top of the fourth, when captain
John Puttress scooted home to make it 2-0. Puttress reached on an error by SBU's Billy Urban, and rounded the corner to third after a Kessler single down the right field line. Barbosa grounded straight to Austin Ingraham on the next at bat, but it was good enough to get NU's catcher across home plate.
After
James Mulry came into relieve Cook on the hill, St. Bonaventure tried to make a run. An error followed by two Bonnies walks in a row loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the sixth. Justin Brozick, pinch hitting for Joel Rosencrance at DH, dribbled one down the third-base line, where NU's
Pete Castoldi corralled it and heaved it home to Puttress, who made a nice snag and tag at the plate to prevent a run. Next up, Bret Heath singled, bringing home two SBU runners, but Puttress returned the favor to Castoldi, tagging Brozick out at third for the final out of the inning.
With the game tied, Northeastern went down in order to begin the seventh frame, but St. Bonaventure had different plans for its turn at the plate.
Brad McLean came into replace Mulry after a walked batter, then SBU reeled off three runs, thanks mostly in part to sacrifice flies into the outfield and nice base running. The Bonnies would take a seemingly momentous 5-2 lead into the eighth inning.
Sophomore
Jason Vosler kickstarted an important inning offensively for the Huskies with a well-hit double to right-center leading off.
Brad Burcroff drew one of his two walks of the day in his at bat following, then Lyons followed suit with a free-base of his own on four balls. Connor Grey's next pitch to
Rob Fonseca went beyond the catcher, advancing all three runners, including Vosler who came home to make it 5-3 in St. Bonaventure's favor. Then Fonseca kept things moving with a ground out to short, which pushed Burcroff home. Puttress tied the game up after the ensuing at bat with a sacrifice fly to left, as Lyons scored NU's fifth run of the day to give the Huskies new life.
Maki came in to start the bottom of the eighth, and didn't allow a single hit in three innings of work. St. Bonaventure, however, did manage to get four base runners, three of which came in the top of the 10th, which just added to the bizarreness of the entire inning.
Fonseca kicked things off in the extra frame with a single shot to left. After Puttress flied out, Kessler acquired his third base knock of the day, dropping the ball into right, which allowed Fonseca to grab a spot on third. Up next,
Pete Castoldi drove a deep ball to the right field wall, where Heath made the play, but the ball eventually hit the ground. Fonseca and Kessler tagged up two bases on the miscue, and Castoldi stood at first base, but was eventually called out -- but Fonseca's run still stood, giving the Huskies the lead for good.
The Bonnies made another run at it in the bottom of the final inning, but Maki and stood tall on the hill. After a fly ball that led to the first out, Maki hit Brozick square in the back. Brian Weightman came in as a pitch runner, but Maki sniped him at first on a clean pick-off attempt for the second out. A walk, an error and a catcher's interference call later, SBU had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but Maki got Johnson to fly out to Barbosa to end the hard-fought game in the Huskies' favor, 6-5.
Northeastern will rest Tuesday and play its final game in Florida on Wednesday with an 11 a.m. start against Villanova. The following day, the Huskies will travel to Norfolk, Va., where they'll start a three-game conference series with Old Dominion on Friday.
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