GREENSBORO, N.C. – With the series tied 1-1, the Northeastern Huskies (2-1) took down the UNC Greensboro Spartans (1-2) by a score of 12-9 on Sunday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
A back-and-forth affair saw several lead changes and ties up until the top of the ninth when first baseman
Tyler MacGregor hit a two-run home run high over the right field wall, spurring the Huskies to a three-run inning. Grad. transfer
Griffin Young shut the door in the bottom of the frame to pick up the win, striking out the last two batters of the game.
- What began as a pitcher's duel eventually erupted in the bottom of the third when the Spartans were able to place some runners on from walks, and cleared the bags with a bases-loaded RBI triple to lead 3-0.
- The Huskies responded with their next chance, with Mike Sirota on third after leading off the top of the fourth with a walk, a passed ball, and an infield out. Alex Lane stepped to the plate and belted a single to shallow left-center field, scoring Sirota easily from third. Lane would advance to second on another passed ball.
- Danny Crossen also earned a walk and represented the tying run at first base, when another passed ball advance both runners into scoring position.
- With runners on second and third and one out, Jimmy Sullivan hit Northeastern's first homer of the season, a high flying shot to the right field wall to claim the lead, 4-3.
- UNCG tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single after two runners got on with a single and a walk.
- Northeastern re-took the lead in the fifth with a two-run inning. Luke Beckstein and Sirota earned walks to begin the inning, and were advanced by an infield ground out by Tyler MacGregor.
- With runners in scoring position, Alex Lane earned an RBI infield ground out scoring Beckstein from third as he hit the ball to first base.
- With Sirota on third, he scored an insurance run on a ball in the dirt that skipped up and over the catcher and into the backstop, giving Northeastern a 6-4 lead.
- The Spartans got the lead back in the bottom of the frame, 7-6, on a bases-clearing double.
- Rookies Carmelo Musacchia and Cam Maldonado earned leadoff walks in the top of the sixth inning and were sent home by Beckstein's bases-clearing double to tie the game at 8-8.
- Rookie reliever Charlie Walker saw his second action of the weekend, taking over in the bottom of the sixth, and produced the first scoreless half-inning since the top of the third, keeping the game tied at eight all.
- The Huskies once again took the lead when the rookie duo of Musacchia and Maldonado struck again - Melo reached on an E4, and a deep double from Cam scored him from first to put NU up 9-8.
- The lead was short lived, as the Spartans once again got their runners on and tied the game up on an RBI single up the middle. The score was 9-9 going into the ninth.
- Leadoff man Sirota earned yet another walk, his third of the game, to begin the ninth inning. Next up was MacGregor, who battled with the pitcher to a full count and then crushed a home run over the right field wall to score two runs and put the Huskies up for good at 11-9.
- Lane would add some insurance as a ground-rule double to center was followed up by a double by Crossen, to finish the scoring at 12-9.
- Griffin Young took over on the mound from Walker in the eighth - despite giving up two hits and an earned run in his first inning, he settled in to notch two strike outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn his first division 1 win.
- It's the Huskies' first series win to open a season since 2018, when Northeastern downed #18 Creighton, taking the last two of three games in the series.
- Northeastern tallied 29 runs on opening weekend, the most since the turn of the century, having not beaten that mark since before the 2000 season.
The Huskies return to action on Friday, February 24 when they take on the Boston Red Sox in an exhibition contest as they open spring training at Fort Myers. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. on NESN. Following their spring training visit, the Huskies head to Port Charlotte for the 2023 Snowbird Classic, facing Indiana State in a three-game set on Saturday and Sunday.
#HowlinHuskies
