BOSTON - The Northeastern University baseball team (10-4) keeps it local this weekend with a home-and-home series with the Rhode Island Rams (2-10) beginning Friday, March 15th at Friedman Diamond in Brookline, and concluding with a double header in Kingston, R.I. on Saturday morning at Bill Beck Field. Friday's home contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will stream on FloBaseball.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
1. MIDWEEK MADNESS
- Northeastern has started the season 3-0 in midweek games after taking down Georgia Tech on the road on March 5th, 7-0, and a two-game home stand at Friedman this past week defeating Sacred Heart and Bryant, 10-0 and 5-4. The Huskies ran past Sacred Heart, 10-0 in their home opener that ended in the bottom of the seventh. The Huskies put up their 10 runs on 11 hits, including multi-hit days from Carmelo Musacchia, Mike Sirota, Alex Lane, and Cam Maldonado. Starter Michael Gemma worked four strong innings, striking a career-high five batters on his way to his second win of the season.
- The Huskies found themselves down early to Bryant on Wednesday, falling behind 4-0 in the top of the second inning. A stellar bullpen effort from the trio of Cooper McGrath, Charlie Walker, and Jack Beauchesne (W, 2-0) kept the Bulldogs off the board after that, and the Huskies climbed back into it with a Jack Goodman homer in the second, a Mike Sirota RBI triple in the fifth, and solo homers from Matt Brinker and Cam Maldonado to tie the game at 4-4. Carmelo Musacchia hit a two-out bases-loaded infield single in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off, 5-4. Sirota finished the day 4-for-5, just a HR off the cycle.
2. STAY FLEXIBLE
- For the third straight weekend the Huskies have faced a weather alteration to their schedule, resulting in a double header. In the previous two weekends, the Huskies have gone 3-1 in those double header games and gone on to win the series.
- The double header against Mercer served as the final two games in the series - the Huskies dropped game one of the weekend against the Bears but swept the DH to take the series 2-1, including a massive come-from-behind victory in the series finale. The Huskies began their next series against Old Dominion with a Friday double header, dropping the opener 7-5 but taking game two by a score of 8-4, the first double header split for the program since 2022.Â
3. SCOUTING THE RAMS
- Rhode Island comes into the weekend series with wins over UTRGV (4-3, 11 inn.) and Washington State, both on the road. The Rams have had just one scheduled home game and two scheduled games in New England so far this season, both of which have either been postponed or canceled. Saturday's double header would serve as the team's double header.
- Last weekend, the Rams faced off with the #4 team in the nation, Texas A&M - while they were shut out the first two games of that series, the Rams strung together a huge seventh inning, plating eight runs to take the lead 11-7 over the Aggies. While A&M would rally back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth, the Rams were able to grab the final out and send the game to extra innings, before the Aggies were able to walk it off with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
The Huskies will continue their run of games in the Northeast region with two local midweeks next Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19th and 20th, at Boston College and home against Merrimack, respectively. Northeastern then begins CAA play at Hofstra the following weekend, March 22nd to March 24th at Hofstra.
