BATON ROUGE, La. – After an upsetting first two weekends of the season, going 0-for-3 in the MLB Desert Invitational and then getting swept by Minnesota in Florida, the Northeastern Huskies pulled through in their first of four games in Louisiana. With more refined pitching and a continuous offensive effort, the Huskies grabbed their first victory of 2026, defeating the Grambling State University Tigers 4-1.
Starter Robbie O’Connor — who struggled on opening day only pitching two outs — entered the game with a 54.00 ERA, but picked up the win with a quality five-inning start. Although he did face what Northeastern will hope isn’t consistent command issues early in the game, O’Connor only allowed one hit and one earned run with four strikeouts to his name.
Despite accumulating plenty of baserunners on walks and hits by pitch, the Tigers’ offense was slow from the start. Northeastern outhit Grambling State 8-2 on the afternoon, including four hits on two outs in the bottom of the first. The Huskies’ offensive efforts were led by veterans in Carmelo Musacchia and Ryan Gerety, both going 2-for-4. Musacchia improved to an impressive .429 batting average on the season, while sophomore Eric Cha jumped up to a .350.
Gerety got things started for the Huskies with a single just past senior second baseman Shannon Martin. After Gerety reached third on a flubbed throw down to second, sophomore Carter Bentley roped a double off the right field wall to score the Huskies’ first run. A hit parade ensued as an Eric Cha single scored the second run and Matt Brinker’s first knock of the season loaded the bases.
A well-called-for challenge by Martin for a force out at second base ended Northeastern’s streak with the Huskies up 2-0, but that wasn’t a concern for the Huskies as O’Connor dialed in for the following frames. Although he walked a couple batters in the fourth, the Grambling State bats remained stifled through the first five innings.
During this time, Northeastern was able to again load the bases in the second, but failed to score after a web gem 6-4-3 double play ended their inning.
In the sixth, O’Connor returned to the mound with 75 pitches and 20 batters faced. After dishing out his fifth hit-by-pitch to right-fielder Trey Bridges, Cameron Hill drove in the Tigers’ first and only run of the game with a rocket of a double, securing his sixth RBI of the year and ending O’Connor’s day. Junior Joseph Hauser came in with one baserunner loaded to grab two huge punchouts and secure O’Connor’s stat line at just one earned run.
With Grambling State closing in 2-1, Northeastern responded in the bottom of the sixth when senior infielder Carmelo Musacchia drove in sophomore Henry DiGiorgio to bring the Huskies’ lead back to two.
Northeastern’s fourth and final run would come in the bottom of the eighth when Musacchia’s offensive efforts earned him another RBI off this sac fly. But once again, Grambling’s defense flashed the leather, as junior outfielder Martavious Thomas made a highlight-reel diving catch on the warning track to hold back Northeastern’s full efforts on gaining insurance.
After a strong showing from junior righty Nick Coniglio, the Huskies called for Ryan Griffin to close out the game. Griffin started the inning pumping gas, picking up his first strikeout of his season, but walked the next two batters on 11 pitches. Pitching coach Kevin Cobb called for a mound visit to settle things with a runner now in scoring position and the tying run at the plate.
This close battle came to a close when Griffin pitched into a double play, earning the save and giving Northeastern that much-awaited first win.
Northeastern continues their weekend in the bayou playing some top NCAA talent in No. 2 Louisiana State University for the first time since 2003 , Saturday, Feb. 28. Mike Kaminsky and Luke Graham will be on the call live starting at 3 p.m. EST/ 2 p.m. CST.
Michael Kaminsky is a sophomore at Northeastern in his first year with WRBB. He is thrilled to be a part of the broadcast team, and is eager to cover many games across Northeastern’s various athletic programs. You can read more of his coverage with WRBB here.