Tulane Baseball Falls to LMU, 6-4 in L.A.
Friday's offensive explosion in a 12-3 victory over Loyola Marymount was not without its issues, mainly how many runners were left stranded. Despite getting a dozen runs, Tulane baseball left another dozen on the base paths by the end of the game.
Final: Loyola Marymount 6 - Tulane 4
The Green Wave stranded runners early and often, leaving nine on base Saturday evening in a 6-4 loss to LMU.
1st Inning: Getting a Feel, Sampson Ks the Side
Unlike the opener, the Wave was trying to get a feel for Loyola Marymount pitcher, Jonah Johnson. Though DH Jason Wachs was able to smack a two-out double to left field, he was stranded there as Tulane couldn't bring him across.
Green Wave starting pitcher Beau Sampson did not have the same control issues shown by Friday night's starter, Trey Cehajic. The big lefty saw the minimum, striking each of the first three batters he faced to maintain a 0-0 tie.
2nd Inning: Wave Loads the Bases, More Sampson Mound Magic
Three out of the first four Greenies who came to bat were able to put the ball in play. 1st bagger Trent Liolios singled up the middle, then Tanner Chun struck out, but 2nd baseman AJ Groeneveld smacked a single, followed by a seeing-eye single by right fielder Matthias Haas. Former USC catcher Johnny Elliott, who got the start Saturday night, hit into a 5-4-3 double play.
Sampson faced the minimum again, but there was SOME contact. The 6' 6" junior allowed a fly-ball out to left fielder Tye Wood, then struck out the next two LMU batters, giving him five Ks for the game through two. The score remained tied at zero each.
3rd Inning: More Baserunners for TU, Feast or Famine for Sampson
For the second straight inning, the leadoff batter gets on, as Kaikea Harrison singled to right. However, Wood hit to the left side of the infield, forcing our senior Harrison. Wachs gave the ball a ride to center field, but it was nothing but a long out. 3rd baseman Nolan Nawrocki tried a hit-and-run to advance Wood, but the slow roller up the 1st base line had him thrown out at 1st. Tulane has left four on base through 2-and-a-half innings of play.
Sampson finally gave up his first hit after setting down six straight, a single to left. Beau struck out the Loyola Marymount eight-hole hitter, but gave up a first pitch home run over the left field wall to nine-hole short stop Jason Wall giving the Lions their first lead of the series, 2-0. Sampson struck out the top man of the order for his seventh strikeout of the game, then a pop up to 2nd to end the frame.
4th Inning: One TU Hit, Sampson Rolls
After two consecutive outs, Groeneveld was credited with an infield single to the LMU first baseman, but the Tulane 2nd baseman was thrown out trying to steal 2nd to end the inning.
Three up, three down for the Lions, as Sampson garners another strikeout, running him to eight for the game. LMU remains up 2-0 through four.
5th Inning: More Runners Stranded, but a Run Scored
Haas opens the fifth with an infield single, his second hit of the game. Elliott hits a sharp liner, but directly at the LMU right fielder. Harrison cranks a double off the fence in right field, pushing Haas to third. Harrison is now 5-for-9 on the year at the plate. Wood gathers his first RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to left field, making it 2-1, LMU with two outs. A wild pitch pushes Harrison to third. Preseason all-conference DH Wachs worked the count full and drew a two-out walk. That gave LMU pitcher 82 pitches on the evening, and set up a pitching change for the Lions.
Right-hander Adam Behrens came on with Harrison at third and Wachs at first with two outs, facing Tulane's Nawrocki. The 3rd bagger ends up going 0-for-3 night, striking out to end the 5th for TU.
Tulane has eight hits through 4-and-a-half innings, with one run to show for it and six men stranded.
Sampson started his sixth inning on the mound for Tulane giving up a lead off double to Loyola Marymount 2nd baseman Andrew Mhoon, his third hit given up in the game thus far. Mhoon advanced to third on a Sampson wild pitch. Sampson picks up his 9th strikeout next, but walks the next batter on five pitches, setting up a pitching change. Sampson finished with 67 pitches over 4-and-one-third innings, 3-hits, 2-runs both earned, gave up a double and a homerun and struck out nine.
6' 6" senior Blaise Wilcenski takes the mound for the Wave. A wild pitch sends the 1st base runner to second. With a drawn-in infield, a sharp hit to Nawrocki makes a slick play at third, holds the runners and throws out the batter at first. The big righty strikes out the LMU designated hitter to end the threat and hold the score at 2-1, Lions.
On Friday, J.D. Rodriguez had nine strikeouts in Friday night's win for Tulane.
6th Inning: Wave Strand Two More, Wilcenski Rolls
Five Tulane batters came to the plated in the top of the 6th, but the Wave could only manage Groeneveld getting on via an LMU shortstop's error and a single Haas. Both were stranded on a fielder's choice ground out by Elliott to end the inning.
Wilcenski had a three-up, three-down inning, gaining a strikeout in the middle of a groundout and a flyout, maintaining the LMU 2-1 lead.
7th Inning: Wave Comeback Begins, Wilcenski Sets 'Em Down in Order
Harrison leads off the inning on a first pitch scorching single through the left side, followed by double through the right by Wood, putting Harrison at third with no outs. Wachs grounds out to the right, pushing Harrison across the plate and Wood to third and evening the score at 2-apiece. Nawrocki turns and rockets a double down the right field line, scoring Wood and giving Tulane its first lead of the game, 3-2. But two straight outs finished the inning for the Wave.
Another 1, 2, 3 inning for Wilcenski, forcing a pair of groundouts and a pop up in foul territory.
8th Inning: TU Scores One More, LMU Retakes the Lead
Groeneveld pounds a double into left field to start things off for Tulane, his third hit in four at bats for the night. Julius Ejike-Charles subs in as pinch runner, advancing to third as Haas gets on first via another error by LMU's shortstop. Elliott grounds into a double-play with Ejike-Charles scoring on the play to double the Lions score, 4-2. Harrison ends the inning with a ground out.
Wilcenski walks the leadoff batter, then an error by Nawrocki at third puts runners at 1st and 2nd, sends Wilcenski to the showers.
Three-year Wave pitcher Will Clements takes the mound for Tulane and hits the next batter, loading the bases with no outs. LMU outfielder Zach Wadas hits a ball deep enough to right field for a sacrifice fly, shortening the Tulane lead to 4-3. Then the Lions fireworks start: a stolen base, another hit by pitch loads the bases again. An infield single scores a run. Another single scores two with a possible third runner thrown out at home, giving Loyola Marymount a 6-4 lead.
9th Inning: Tulane Puts Another Runner On, but Doesn't Take Advantage
Wood leads off the top getting on base via the third error of the night by LMU. Wachs pops out to short, then James Agabedis who had come on defensively in the 8th, grounds into a double play to end the game.
The rubber game of the three-game match is set for Sunday afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. CST first pitch and will be broadcast on WRBH 88.3FM in New Orleans.
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.