Northeastern Huskies at Boston Red Sox: Final Score & Recap

The Boston Red Sox opened their spring exhibition slate with a 7-2 victory over the Northeastern Huskies on February 23, 2024, at JetBlue Park. The DiamondIQ model entered the game giving Boston a 54% win probability, and that figure climbed steadily before reaching 100% at final out, a reflection of how thoroughly the Red Sox controlled the contest after the early innings.

The decisive moment came in the bottom of the third, when Mark Contreras launched a home run off Northeastern starter Joseph Hauser, a swing that added 26.9% to Boston's win probability and served as the clearest turning point of the afternoon. Boston had already scored once in the second and went on to plate three runs in the third frame, pushing their lead to 4-1 heading into the middle innings. The Red Sox added another run in the fourth and two more in the sixth, the latter aided by a Ryan Griffin field error that shifted win probability by an additional 7.7%. Northeastern managed a run in the fifth, but consecutive strikeouts by Gregory Bozzo and Tyler MacGregor off Nathan Landry and Chih-Jung Liu, costing the Huskies 8.3% and 8.1% in win probability respectively, extinguished any meaningful threat. A hit by pitch to James Morice earlier in that same inning had represented Northeastern's best window of the frame at plus 6.8%.

Contreras finished as the game's most impactful offensive performer, posting a WPA of plus 23.2% and a RE24 of plus 2.6, while Karson Simas contributed plus 9.0% WPA and plus 2.0 RE24 and Morice added plus 6.8% WPA. On the mound, Nathan Landry led Boston's pitching staff with a WPA of plus 8.3%, followed by Chase Shugart at plus 5.3% and Zach Penrod at plus 5.0%. Boston finished with ten hits against Northeastern's three, and both teams committed two errors in a game that was ultimately decided by Boston's third-inning burst.