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BRIGHTON, Mass. – With unwavering grit and determination lasting the duration of Tuesday's five-hour and 24-minute contest against Boston College, the Northeastern baseball team buckled down for the long haul and defeated BC, 7-4, during a wild, 18-inning affair at Brighton Field – the first-ever game to be held at the Eagles' new ballpark.
Tuesday's marathon victory marked the Huskies' first against BC in seven tries dating back to April 21, 2014, at Friedman Diamond, while the game itself ranks as the second longest in Northeastern history in terms of both innings pitched and game duration. Two seasons ago on March 25, 2016, NU had lost a 19-inning CAA tilt at James Madison by a score of 7-6 that had lasted five hours and 46 minutes.
Charlie McConnell led Northeastern (11-5) offensively on Tuesday with a five-for-nine day at the plate. The Huskies' leadoff man began the game by hitting three distinct parts of the cycle during each of his first three at-bats: doubling to open the game, belting an RBI single during the top of the second inning, and knocking his first of two triples during the top of the fourth.
McConnell's second triple could not have come at a better time for Northeastern, which entered the top of the 18th inning deadlocked with Boston College (7-11) at 4-4. Swinging on the first pitch of the inning, McConnell kicked up the turf with his leadoff triple down the right field line that rolled all the way to the outfield corner.
During the next at-bat,
Cam Walsh slapped the eventual game-winning hit through the left side, scoring McConnell with ease as the Huskies took a one-run advantage.
Despite consecutive outs appearing to silence the NU rally,
Max Burt kept the inning alive by beating out his infield dribbler to the left side, priming
Ryan Solomon to come through with an RBI single to right field that scored
Scott Holzwasser and put the Huskies in front, 6-4.
Burt and Solomon capped Northeastern's three-run, 18th inning with a strategic double steal, which was poorly handled by the Eagles.
While eight different players combined to swing the Huskies' 17 hits, Northeastern's corps of pitchers united to yield 11 strikeouts during the game while limiting Boston College to only two earned runs.
Brian Christian began Tuesday's game on the mound for the Huskies, striking out five BC batters across four and one-third innings, despite surrendering a pair of unearned runs to the Eagles during the fourth and fifth innings.
Andrew Misiaszek relieved Christian in the wake of Jack Cunningham's fifth-inning, RBI double that had reduced Northeastern's lead to 3-2. Although Jake Alu would tie the game on Misiaszek's watch with an RBI single during the bottom of the sixth, the NU reliever proceeded to toss up three scoreless frames before handing the keys over to
Kyle Murphy during extra innings.
Murphy struck out four batters and walked none during five nearly flawless innings of relief work, despite being unable to hold onto Northeastern's 4-3 lead during the bottom of the 14th inning - which had been awarded to NU courtesy of
Ian Fair's RBI single that had scored Burt. Pitching with his first lead, the NU closer countered Cunningham's leadoff single with consecutive infield outs prior to Jake Palomaki singling over the head of Holzwasser at second base, which leveled the game at 4-4.
David Stiehl successfully kept the Eagles off the scoreboard during the game's final four innings, earning the hard-fought victory after working himself out of a bases-loaded jam that had presented Boston College with the potential winning run at the plate.
Northeastern and Boston College each turned two double plays apiece. The Huskies left 19 base runners aboard, while the Eagles left 14.
UP NEXT
NU will travel to Lubbock, Texas, where the Huskies will begin a four-game series against No. 10 Texas Tech on Friday, March 23.
