Tulane Baseball Claims Season Opening Series with a 6 - 2 Win over LMU
Timely hitting, something missing in Saturday's game against Loyola Marymount, came through the the Tulane baseball team in a four-run explosion by TU in the top of the fifth and three home runs in the game, but it was Tulane pitching that stole the day, as the Green Wave claimed a 6 - 2 win in the rubber match with the Lions, as the Wave takes two of the three games in Los Angeles.
TU Leaving Runners Stranded Early
In the top of the second, with the bases loaded and one out, the Green Wave missed out on a scoring opportunity when designed hitter Matthias Haas grounded into an inning-ending double play, wasting a single by 3rd baseman Nolan Nawrocki and walks by Trent Liolios and A.J. Groeneveld sandwiched around a strike out by centerfielder Tanner Chun.
Tulane Pitching Starts Strong
With right-hander Jack Frankel on the mound throwing strikes early, he was able to retire the first nine Lions he faced before walking the top of the order in the bottom of the 4th. That came back to haunt Frankel after another walk and a single gave the Lions a short-lived 1-0 lead.
Wave Offense Gets Going
However, in the top of the 5th, the Tulane offense got on track. Chun slaps a double to left field. Then, two outs later, catcher Hugh Pinkney cranks a two-run homer over the right field wall to give the Wave a 2-1 lead. Next up, shortstop Kaikea Harrison pushes a single, then Tye Wood gets his first homer as a Greenie, as the Tulane left fielder jacks one in almost the same spot at Pinkney to give the Green Wave a 4-1 lead.
Wave Pitching Coming Through
After throwing 69-pitches through four innings, Frankel gave way to right-hander Jack Brafa in the bottom of the 5th. On a 1-1 pitch, LMU shortstop DJ Ghiorso smacked a double to left field, then stole third. But Brafa settled down, striking out the next three batters he faced to maintain that 4-1 Tulane lead.
For the game, Frankel gave up 1-run, earned, on 2-hits, struck out five, walked two over four innings of work.
Tulane 7th Chance to Blow it Open Falls Short, but More Runs in the 8th & 9th
In the top of the 7th, with one out, Tulane loaded the bases via bases on balls to Pinkney, Harrison, and Wood. Haas dribbles a slow-roller to the pitcher, who throws out Pinkney at home, leaving the bases loaded, followed by a 4-3 ground out by Nawrocki, leaving the bases loaded for the second time in the game.
Two more walks in the top of the 8th set up Haas, who delivers with a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Chun giving the Green Wave a 5-1 lead.
Tulane right fielder Jason Wachs broke his 0-for-4 slump when he crushed a ball over the right field fence to increase the Green Wave lead to 6-1.
Despite getting only 8 hits in the game, the Green Wave was able to show a good eye at the plate, drawing six walks in the contest.
Tulane Pitchers Shut Down Loyola Marymount
Right hander Sam Larson, a junior transfer from Division III's Denison University, comes on in relief of Brafa in the bottom of the 7th. Brafa threw a gem for two innings, giving up one hit and striking out six over the two frames. Larson promptly stuck out the side in the 7th and 8th innings before giving up a double, a run scoring single and a wild pitch, then getting a stellar play at shortstop by Harrison to record the 1st out of the 9th. Larson exits the game working 2-and-a-third innings, giving up two hits, one run, and striking out six.
Right-hander Jude Abbadessa comes on for his first appearance of the year. The 6' 0" righty played the last three years at U Conn. The Endicott, NY native struck out the last two batters to earn his first save as a Greenie.
Brafa earns the victory for the Wave, now 1-0 on the year. Abbadessa gets the save for his two-thirds inning of work in the bottom of the ninth.
Tulane stays in Los Angeles to take on UCLA, picked by some preseason publications as the #1 team in college baseball. First pitch set for Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. CST from L.A.
Game Notes
- Tulane pitchers struck out 19 Lions in Sunday's game. That follows 11 combined Ks for Tulane pitchers in a losing effort on Saturday and nine strikeouts on Friday in the nine-run victory.
- Tanner Chun was hit by pitch twice in the game, his third HBP in the short season.
- Senior Kaikea Harrison is batting .467 in three games.
- The Green Wave is showing patience at the plate, drawing 15 walks in the opening series.
- Greenie batters don't mind NOT dodging pitches, getting hit-by-pitch a half-dozen times already.
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.