Jacob Oshinsky/WRBB Sports File
PHOENIX, Ariz. — The 2026 MLB Desert Invitational did not go Northeastern’s way. That’s putting it lightly. On Sunday, Mike Glavine had one goal for his team: bounce back and salvage a win against a second-consecutive Power Four opponent in Iowa.
Just under four hours after first pitch, and 26 free passes later — summed by eight walks, seven hit by pitches, nine wild pitches, and two errors — Northeastern dropped its third straight game in disastrous fashion, 21-13.
The afternoon began with promise as Northeastern knocked Iowa starter Carter Wilcox, a freshman making his collegiate debut, out of the game before he recorded an out with the damage delivered courtesy of back-to-back RBI singles from senior Harrison Feinberg and sophomore Carter Bentley for a 2-0 lead.
The hit became a slumpbuster for Feinberg, a Second-Team Preseason All-American, who had been 0-for-7 with two punchouts entering Sunday. Feinberg went 2-for-4 and plated a team-high four runs.
After Wilcox departed, sophomore Eric Cha ripped a two-run double to left to give Northeastern a 4-0 lead.
Junior Carmelo Musacchia also had a big day at the plate and deposited three two-baggers to the left-center field gap in a 4-for-6 effort. Entering Sunday, Northeastern had mustered a 1-for-16 (.063) clip when leading off innings combined between the Grand Canyon and Nebraska games.
On Sunday, the Huskies went 4-for-6 in official at-bats when leading off. Yet most of Northeastern’s runs came from sloppy Iowa pitching, a staff that issued six walks and hit three batters.
Yet the story of the day was Northeastern’s pitching. Glavine gave the nod to sophomore Andrew Rogovic, who allowed six earned runs in two innings on five hits, one walk, and two punchouts.
The nine-inning marathon saw a total of eight Huskies in relief, none of whom pitched more than one full frame.
The lone bright spot on the mound came in the ninth, when sophomore Angel Cruz, who pitched only one inning in 2025, tossed the first 1-2-3 frame since the first.
Between the third and fifth innings, Iowa scored 16 unanswered runs. Northeastern batted around in the sixth and plated six runs to cut the deficit to 18-12, but Iowa continued to add insult to injury with the bats (16 hits), compounded by the walks, hit batsmen, and wild pitches that Northeastern evenly distributed throughout the afternoon.
The Huskies’ free pass total on the season rose to 47 over the course of the opening three-game weekend.
Northeastern returns to action Friday in an annual exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. WRBB will provide written coverage of the game.
Max Schwartzberg is a junior at Northeastern and covers hockey, basketball, and baseball in print and on air. He is also a Cape Cod Baseball League announcer for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. You can read his articles here and follow his Instagram here.