PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - The Northeastern baseball team begins a six-game stint in the Snowbird Baseball Classic on Saturday, March 1, when the Huskies take on Central Michigan at 2:30 p.m. The Huskies look to repeat last year's performance in the SBC when they went 5-0 in Port Charlotte, Fla. NU topped Chicago State (10-3), Western Michigan (4-2), Valparaiso (3-1), St. Bonaventure (6-5, 10 inn.), and Villanova (7-2).
A look at the 2013 SBC
Husky starting pitchers were dominant in the five SBC games last year, posting a collective 1.91 ERA through 28.1 innings, and NU returned four of those five starters to this year's team (
Chris Carmain,
Nick Berger,
Matt Cook,
Isaac Lippert). Carmain allowed two earned runs through five innings against Chicago State and was followed by Berger's seven-inning, one-run performance against Western Michigan. Cook tossed five scoreless innings in his start against St. Bonaventure, and Lippert allowed two earned runs through four innings against Villanova.
Kevin Ferguson, who now pitches in the Houston Astros' organization, allowed just one earned run through 7.1 innings against Western Michigan.
On the offensive end,
Michael Foster drove in eight runs through five games and hit his first home run of the season against Villanova.
Jason Vosler hit .350 (7-for-20) during the SBC to go along with a pair of doubles and two RBI, while
Connor Lyons batted .368 (7-for-19) and added three RBI.
Huskies nearly best World Series Champs
Jimmy Hand belted a two-run double and the Northeastern pitching staff held the defending World Series Champions to just one run through five innings, but the Boston Red Sox rallied for four runs in the sixth inning to come away with a 5-2 win in seven innings at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday afternoon. It was the 11th annual exhibition between the Huskies and Red Sox. The Huskies entered the sixth inning trailing, 1-0, when
Shane Allen reached base with an infield hit to the shortstop.
Nick Fanneron followed with a single to the right side to set up Hand's two-run double down the leftfield line. Freshman starting pitcher
Dustin Hunt and sophomore southpaw
James Mulry kept the Red Sox bats silent for the majority of the game. Hunt faced 10 batters through two scoreless innings, and Mulry wowed the crowd when he struck out the first two batters of the third inning – Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.
Search for 700
Northeastern head coach Neil McPhee (698-628-4) is two wins shy of his 700th-career victory. The Northeastern skipper is in his 29th year at the helm of the Huskies and will retire at the end of the 2014. Northeastern assistant coach
Mike Glavine will take over as head coach at the end of the season.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
Northeastern won its first extra-inning game of the season by topping Houston Baptist, 7-4, in 10 innings on Friday, Feb. 21. The Huskies were a perfect 3-0 in extra-inning games last year and have now won four consecutive extra-inning contests.
That's a relief
Freshman RHP
Dustin Hunt and junior LHP
Isaac Lippert continue to perform well out of the bullpen for the Huskies. Hunt worked four scoreless innings at Houston Baptist (Feb. 21) while allowing only two hits, and Lippert allowed only one run in 6.1 innings at HBU (Feb. 22). Through two appearances this season, Hunt has struck out nine through 8.1 innings to go with a 4.32 ERA. Lippert has a 1.69 ERA through two appearances (10.2 innings) while holding opposing batters to a gaudy .194 average. As a whole, the NU bullpen has a 3.75 ERA so far this season.
A look at the opposition
Northeastern is 3-0 all-time against a
Central Michigan team that enters the SBC with a 2-6 overall record. In their last meeting the Huskies swept a doubleheader against the Chippewas (6-2, 2-1) on March 6, 2009, in Winter Haven, Fla. Central Michigan opened its 2014 season by getting swept in four games by UNLV, but the Chippewas bounced back to split a four-game series against Troy. Nick Reignier leads the team with a .367 batting average, but the team as a whole as batting a lowly .217. On the mound Jordan Foley holds a 2.13 ERA through two starts (12.2 IP, 12 SO), and the Chippewas have a 4.09 team ERA.
St. Bonaventure hasn't defeated the Huskies since 2011 as Northeastern holds a 4-2 edge in the all-time series. The two teams squared off in last year's SBC as NU came away with a 6-5 win in 10 innings. The Bonnies opened their season on Feb. 22 at the SBC, where they play nine games in all. They have lost their first five games of the SBC, most recently coming up short against Chicago State, 5-4.
Maine is off to a 1-6 start this year with its lone win was over Miami (Fla.), 3-1, on Feb. 15. A quartet of Black Bears are hitting over .300 so far this season, led by Troy Black (.435), Colin Gay (.350), Sam Balzano (.348), and Steven Adam (.316). Maine holds an 80-67 edge against the Huskies in the all-time series. The Black Bears won the last meeting against NU, 5-2, on May 10, 2011 in Sanford, Maine.
Northeastern and
Presbyterian play each other twice during the SBC, March 5 (4 p.m.) and March 8 (9 a.m.), for the first-ever meeting between the Huskies and Blue Hose. Presbyterian is 4-2-1, with its tie coming against North Carolina Central, 8-8, in 13 innings. Stats
Western Michigan enters the SBC with a 1-5 record and most recently beat Louisville, 4-2, on Feb. 23 after the Broncos opened the year 0-5. Andrew Sohn leads the Broncos with a .278 batting average, but the team is struggling with a .203 clip. The Broncos hold a 6.43 ERA through six games, but Keegan Akin leads the team with a 0.96 ERA through 9.1 innings (three appearances, one start). Northeastern is 5-2 all-time against Western Michigan, and
.
