Tulane Baseball Can't Hold off #3 MSU, 11-7
The Tulane baseball team (9-8) had a five-run lead heading to the bottom of the seventh, but surrendered seven runs in the frame and nine runs total in the final two innings in falling 11-7 to No. 3 Mississippi State (15-2) at Kessler Federal Park on Tuesday, March 10, in a neutral site game in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Wave Pitching Starts Strong
Jack Brafa started for Tulane and allowed two runs on three hits in an inning. Blaise Wilcenski threw a scoreless frame with a strikeout and a hit allowed. Jake Toporek threw a pair of scoreless innings with two strikeouts. J.D. Rodriguez struck out six in his two innings but saw three inherited runs score on a grand slam once he exited the game once he started his third inning of work. Jude Abbadessa surrendered the grand slam and three runs (two earned) in 0.1 innings. Tom Vincent (1-1) was only able to retire a man and surrendered a pair of runs (one earned) in taking the loss. Caden Tarango recorded the final out in the seventh but allowed a run in the eighth in throwing a total of 0.2 innings. Julius Ejike-Charles struck out a man in throwing 0.1 of an inning in allowing a run with a strikeout and walking two men. Jacob Moore closed it out for Tulane in throwing the final 0.1 of an inning with a strikeout.
Tulane’s pitching staff struck out 14 in the game while allowing 12 hits. The team’s offense totaled 10 hits. The Green Wave defense committed a season-high four errors in the game.
Slugger Birds Earn the Moniker
Jason Wachs led the offensive attack for Tulane with three hits, a run scored and an RBI. Nate Johnson hit a two-run home run. Kaikea Harrison had a hit and an RBI. Tanner Chun totaled a run and a hit. Tye Wood tallied two hits, a run, and an RBI. Matthias Haas had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Jack Johnson had a hit and an RBI. Nolan Nawrocki totaled an RBI.
Tulane scored first with two runs in the first inning on a Wachs’ RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Nawrocki.
Mississippi State answered with a pair of runs in the opening inning on Noah Sullivan’s double and an RBI single Reed Stallings.
The Green Wave took the lead back, 4-2, in the top of the fourth on a two-run home run from Nate Johnson with his brother Jack Johnson on base.
Tulane added three more runs to the lead in the seventh on an RBI double from Wood, an RBI single to left by Haas and a theft of a home by Haas on the front end of double steal.
Big 7th Inning for the Bulldogs
Mississippi State took the lead with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh, 9-7. Ace Reese brought the Bulldogs to within a run, 7-6, with his grand slam to start the scoring. A base hit from Stallman tied the game at seven all as Sullivan raced around the bases. The Bulldogs took the lead back on an RBI from Gehrig Frei and added an insurance run on Chone James hit through the right side.
The Bulldogs added two more tallies to the lead on a sacrifice fly from Drew Wyers and a single from Frei in the eighth inning to make the final score 11-7.
Ripples
- Jason Wachs extended his on-base streak to 43 games from the end of last season and the first 16 games this year with three hits against Mississippi State. The 43 games is a career high.
- The loss to the No. 3 ranked Bulldogs was the fourth game the program has lost to a ranked opponent this season.
- Matthias Haas extended his on-base streak to 13 games with a hit against Mississippi State.
- Tulane falls to 0-4 on Tuesdays this season.
- The game marked the seventh time this season that Tulane’s pitching staff has reached double digits in strikeouts.
Next, Tulane returns home to host Creighton (5-7) for a three-game series from March 13-16 on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. The games are 6:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 1 p.m.
Portions Courtesy Tulane Athletics
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.