While he may not have intended it, junior pitcher Kris Dabrowiecki gave a lesson in economics during the Huskies’ annual spring scrimmage with the Boston Red Sox March 1, when he faced newcomer and cleanup hitter J.D. Drew.

The 2007-08 tuition at Northeastern University is listed as $41,259. Drew is making $14 million per year.

Fourteen million dollars to come up empty, as Drew struck out swinging to cap off Dabrowiecki’s scoreless two-thirds of an inning against the Sox.

The 6-foot, 4-inch righty has extended his dominance into the start of the Huskies’ regular season, capping it off with 14 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings Sunday at George Mason in the second game of a twinbill, earning him The Northeastern News Player of the Week honors.

“I felt good the whole game,” he said of facing a George Mason lineup that included the top three home run hitters in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), sophomore Scott Krieger, freshman Justin Bour and junior Chris Fournier, respectively.

This seemed to matter little to Dabrowiecki, who gave up only two hits to the trio, both by Fournier, and struck out Krieger three times in four plate appearances, and Bour all four times he stepped to the plate against him.

“I just wanted to go after them with all my best stuff, and it was a day when all my pitches were working pretty well,” Dabrowiecki said. “[Pitching] coach [Greg] DiCenzo called a good game.”

Dabrowiecki threw 137 pitches in his outing before giving way to freshman Sheldon McDonald in the seventh inning. He gave up three earned runs in NU’s 5-3 victory, improving to 2-0 with a CAA-leading 1.37 ERA in three starts, and leads the Huskies with 23 punch-outs in 19.2 innings of work.

After losing Adam Ottavino (4-5 2.98) and Dave Pellegrine (6-5 3.02) to the MLB draft last June, the Huskies will look to Dabrowiecki, who posted a pair of six-win seasons to open his Husky career, to lead a young staff this season.

“We have a very good pitching staff, even though its young,” Dabrowiecki said. “As long as they throw strikes, we’ll do well.”

– Nate Owen, News Staff