Tulane Green Wave Baseball Projected to Finish Second in Conference Play
The Tulane Green Wave baseball team is seeking a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and D1 Baseball has them projected close to the top of the American Athletic Conference going into the season.
The site previewed the entire conference and selected Tulane to finish second in its preseason rankings. It noted that the Green Wave has the talent to challenge for an at-large berth if it is unable to win the AAC and earn the league’s automatic berth.
That’s close to what the league’s coaches believe, as they picked Tulane third with 63 points in the league’s preseason poll. Four Green Wave players were named as preseason all-AAC selections, including pitcher Luc Fladda, relief pitcher Jacob Moore, Gavin Schulz and outfielder Jackson Linn.
D1 Baseball was bullish on the depth of Tulane’s talent as it relates to the MLB Draft, which will be in July.
The site selected six Green Wave players among the AAC’s Top 40 pro prospects, including right-handed pitcher Michael Lombardi, who was ranked No. 8.
After Lombardi was second baseman Connor Rasmussen at No. 12, Moore at No. 18, right-handed pitcher Grayson Smith at No. 24, catcher Hugh Pinkney at No. 30 and right-handed pitcher Blaise Wilcenski at No. 33.
The depth extended to Tulane’s recruiting class. Five Green Wave players were among the Top 30 freshmen in the AAC, including infielder Nate Johnson at No. 14, outfielder Tanner Chun at No. 16, right-handed pitcher Michael Devenney at No. 19, outfielder Jason Wachs at No. 24 and right-handed pitcher at No. 28.
The Green Wave hope to push forward with the momentum they built last season. Tulane won 36 games, won the AAC tournament and became the first program in league history to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. It was also the first time Tulane made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances since 2015-16.
The Green Wave went to the Corvallis Regional, hosted by Oregon State, and recorded their first regional win since 2016. After the tournament, Tulane saw four players selected in the MLB draft, which was the third-most players for a non-power conference program.
Tulane is preparing to open the regular season next weekend with a three-game series against Omaha starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m. That’s the start of 35 home games at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
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Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.