Tulane Baseball Excels in All Phases, Dumps ECU, 4-1
The Tulane baseball team put together a combination of timely long ball, superb defense, and spot-on pitching to down a hot East Carolina team, 4-1 at Turchin Stadium. The Green Wave win halted a five-game win streak by the Pirates. The Wave improved to an even-Steven, 5-5 in the American. ECU drops to 6-4 in American Conference play.
"I thought we came to play," Tulane head coach Jay Uhlman told us after the game. "When you play a team like that, that's well coached, that likes to play chess,...it makes every pitch important."
Friday starter Trey Cehajic had his best outing in a month and a half. The graduate righty threw five-and-a -third strong innings, giving up only four hits, one earned run, striking out two but only walking two.
"I thought Trey really got us off to a good start," Uhlman said. "His back was against the wall (knowing he hadn't had the kind of outing the Wave had needed since February 27), and he knew it. For him to come out here and give us the strong outing that he did, that's what we saw all Fall."
"We were throwing everything in the zone," Cehajic said after the game. "A lot of fastballs, trying to keep them off-balance with the off speed. We were in the zone, and it gave us a good chance."
The Green Wave got on the board first, scoring in the bottom of the 1st. Left fielder, Tye Wood, batting in the leadoff position for the first time, hit a high-hopper to third forcing the a throw that was off-target. Wood stole second base, the first of what would be two steals for him on the night. Then, after moving to third on a deep fly to center by second baseman Nate Johnson, Wood scored on a ground out by right fielder Jason Wachs to give the Wave a 1-0 lead after one inning.
Tulane First Baseman Goes Deep
East Carolina tied it in the top of the second, but two innings later, after Wachs got on base due to catcher's interference, 1st bagger Trent Liolios smacked a no-doubter over the right field wall to give the Wave a 3-1 advantage.
"It was a slider that stayed in the heart of the plate," Liolios shared. "The results (of late) haven't shown how hard we've worked as a team, but these are a big step back in the direction we want to be going," referring to last week's series win over Wichita State and Friday night's win in game one against ECU.
Contentious Play at the End of the Eighth
Things got a little chippy in the bottom of the eighth when a hard grounder to second left Greenie Hugh Pinkney stranded between third and home. After a couple of throw backs, Pinkney came home and was tagged out before he ever got to the plate. There was talk back and fourth between the two teams as a few members of each squad converged at the plate, but order was quickly restored.
Sam Larson was called on to close things out in the top of the ninth and promptly struck out the side.
"It was my first time playing ECU," Larson said. The junior righty transferred to Tulane in the Fall. "I'm new here, but I know it's a big rivalry."
Larson received a warning from home plate umpire Brandon Misun early during his one-inning appearance.
"Talking to the hitter, I guess," Larson explained after the game. "I guess I got a little to excited. (It was a) fun game, for sure."
"He's a dog," Liolios gushed. "Sam is awesome. Everytime he's out there, I love playing defense behind him. I think everyone's got the same feeling when he's on the mound."
"No matter what happens in the arena, I've got nothing but respect for what they (East Carolina) do and how they go about it," Uhlman concluded. "We appreciate competing against them."
Tulane D Came to Play
Though the Wave was outhit, 6-to-5 in the game, the Pirate hits didn't amount to much, as Tulane turned three double plays in the game. The Green Wave did the little things at the right time for the entire game.
"Wachs gets the sacrifice fly (to score Wood in the 6th)," Uhlman said listing off the accomplishments. "we stole some bases, we bunted against a guy that's tough to bunt against (ECU starter Luke Payne). I thought we played really solid baseball."
The series continues Saturday night at 6:30 in Turchin Stadium. Tulane throws left-hander Jake Toporek.
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.