NEWARK, Del. – Trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth inning, the Northeastern Huskies (27-7, 9-2 CAA) completed a two-out rally to defeat the Delaware Blue Hens (17-16, 5-6 CAA) by a score of 10-9 on Saturday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.
Northeastern collected two-out RBI base knocks from
Mike Sirota,
Jack Goodman, and
Jimmy Sullivan in the top of the ninth inning to take a 10-8 lead, and
Jack Beauchesne earned the save, closing the door in the bottom of the ninth. Sirota finished the day as the team's offensive leader with three hits, a home run, and three RBIs.
- Northeastern started the game strong with two home runs in the top of the first inning – Tyler MacGregor got things started with a one-out solo shot to right-center, and after a walk to Alex Lane, Mike Sirota crushed one over the left field wall for the 3-0 lead.
- In the top of the second it was Luke Beckstein with a single to center field scoring Harrison Feinberg, who walked and stole second, for the 4-0 lead.
- After a five-run bottom of the second for Delaware gave the Blue Hens the lead, Carmelo Musacchia tied the game back up at 5-5 with a sacrifice fly to left in the third.
- Delaware broke the stalemate in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run to lead 7-5, and plated an unearned run in the sixth to lead 8-5.
- Relief pitcher Jack Bowery entered the game down by two runs in the fourth inning, and retired all but two batters he faced in his 4.2 innings of work, keeping the Huskies within striking distance.
- Luke Beckstein led off the seventh with a solo home run to cut into the deficit, but the Huskies couldn't tack on any more in the inning, trailing 8-6.
- In the ninth, a lead off single for Feinberg started things for the NU offense. He moved to second on a wild pitch with two outs, while Alex Lane earned a seven-pitch walk to place the game-tying run on first.
- After Cam Maldonado took Lane's spot at first, Mike Sirota drove a ball up the middle for an RBI single, scoring Feinberg and putting Maldonado on third.
- The next batter, Jack Goodman, perfectly placed a double down the third base line, hopping the bag and staying fair allowing Maldonado to tie the game and Sirota to take the lead, 9-8.
- Pinch-hitter Jimmy Sullivan scored Goodman with a single over the short stop for the extra insurance, which would end up as the game-winning run after Delaware's lone run in the bottom of the ninth.
- Jack Beauchesne allowed a lead off solo home run but responded with a strike out, fly out, and ground out to collect his third save of the season.
- Jack Bowery earned the win in relief and is now 3-0 on the year.
- It was Northeastern's second win of the season when trailing in the ninth inning, and the first in CAA play.
- The Huskies now lead the series with Delaware 2-0, which marks just the second time this season Northeastern has led a weekend series 2-0, and the first time on the road.
The series will wrap up on Sunday, April 14 at 1 p.m. on FloBaseball.
