Tulane Baseball Looking Forward to Season Opener in Los Angeles

Our camera's audio was on the fritz this week, so our interview with Tulane baseball coach Jay Uhlman is not usable. However, we did transcribe what was recorded so you could get ready for this weekend. What you'll see below is the transcript of Jay's responses to our questions, which are in bold, larger print. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

The Green Wave are in Los Angeles for a trio of games this weekend against Loyola Marymount. Friday's game is set for an 8:00 p.m. CST first pitch. Saturday's game is set for 5:00 p.m. and Sunday's for 3:00 p.m. All games can be heard in New Orleans on WRBH, 88.3 FM.

Take a Look at the Opening Weekend

You know, everything starts anew. You're 0-0. All the batting averages and ERAs are zeros. Now we get to put our feet to the fire to see if we're prepared for what's ahead. So excited about that.

(We want to) go 1-0. Game one. I showed the guys our schedule in a PowerPoint presentation, and the only game that was on it was Friday night at LMU.

So really trying to take that and run with it. You know, and from a seasonal standpoint, we want to put ourselves in a position to be in consideration for that at-large (NCAA tournament) bid, but you can't get there without game one. And so, again, our sole focus is really, honestly, it's on Friday for sure.

Tulane Hasn't Done Well on the West Coast in the Past

Yeah, it's totally fair. I actually had the Loyola Marymount's color guy ask me the same question.

We've tried to help (our players adjust). Last weekend we scrimmaged at 8, 5, and 3 (the local times for the games this weekend), trying to get the clocks on a little bit of schedule. We're doing some things, hopefully, to educate our guys on the time change of going from east to west. It's always easier to go west to east, which obviously we're not doing.

Trying to take care of that, and then trying to be ready to go. Try to do a few things different, maybe with travel and when we practice and when we lift, but ultimately it still comes down to the guys on the field and are they prepared or are they not.

Young guys sometimes don't always do what you hope they do. So, hopefully in this case, they do what we think they're going to do, go 1-0.

For pitching, how much better do you feel now going into the game?

A lot better. And THEY did that, the pitchers did that, the pitching staff, coaches did that. They came back in January and just dominated our offense. Now, I'm not worried about the offense, but you have to look at it and go like, oh, whoa, they got us. They really got us, ended up good.

Really impressed with how they (the pitchers) came back and excited about what the potential there for them is. We need them. You can't win at a high level without quality pitching.

Beau (Sampson) is starting Saturday. What does he do best?

He's throwing his fastball and he's got two different breaking balls and the changeup's really good. So, you know, he's a left-handed, I wouldn't say version of Trey (Cehajic, who will be starting on Friday night), but they're both big dudes. And, you know, left-handers typically give most people fits. I think his competitiveness is a real plus and I'm looking forward for him to get his opportunity to make a name for himself on a weekend opportunity.

Who do you think it's going to start on Sunday?

Great battle, a lot of competition. It was a down to the wire competition. We felt like we had three or four guys that could have won that battle, but Jack Frankel is going to get that opportunity to start on Sunday. And he earned that.

Others didn't lose that. The others pitched really well. And that was our message to them in our meetings with them before we announced rotation to the other team was, "You guys didn't do anything wrong. Matter of fact, you guys pitched your tails off. But the guy that was holding for it, he held for it."

What do you like about him (Frankel)?

He's a competitor, and his changeups. (Former TU pitcher Dylan) Carmouche had a good changeup for us. He's got a right-handed Carmouche changeup. And the velocity's ticking up and that's the thing. Him and Jack Brafa (right handed pitcher), the velocities need to be in that low 90s range to really create some soft contact and to be ultra effective. So he's a striker. And on Sunday, you need the ball in play and you need it early in play, and he does that frequently.

Are you going to stick with your top nine all the way through all three games on the West Coast against LMU, or are you going to switch it up a little bit?

I think you'll probably see some versions of some things. You've got some guys that have earned some opportunities, but we'll see what the matchups tell us to do.

What do you like about this team, that it's deep?

Yeah, they're versatile. A lot of guys can play multiple positions. Some of those guys are (batting) right. Some of those guys are left. I've said to (Tulane radio voice) Corey Gloor, we can roll out a lineup of all left-handers. We can roll out a lineup of all righties. And then we can also go right, left, right, left.

So there's a lot of balance, I think, with this team. And I don't think the drop-off's so steep where I just got to go like in '24, I just told that team, I'm going to play nine guys and we're just going for it. And the old school in me likes to do that because it's a game of averages. You've got to let guys kind of play and get comfortable. But, you know, we'll try to do what we can in the lineup to whatever the game requires to win. That's what we're going to try to do.

Where have your guys made the biggest strides in the last two weeks?

I would just say in solidifying the pitching part of that. Like we had had some good returns when we came back. The last couple weeks have hammered that home. I think the last couple weeks have been really big for the pitchers in terms of, okay, you've done it one or two times out. Now let's do it three and four times, and let's really solidify the reliability piece. And they've showed reliability.

Have you settled on first base, third base, and D.H. for the opening game?

That's where a lot of the flexibility for us lies, you know. And then, if there's some guys that are maybe banged up or nicked up, they may or may not play, those are some considerations too.

But, you know, I think you'll see some form of James Agabedis, Matthias Haas, Jack Johnson, Nate Johnson, the Johnson brothers. Jack's right-handed and Nate's left-handed, so they provide different things. But similar profiles in terms of what they can do on the field defensively to help. So, yeah, for me those are still kind of – I'm still sleeping on those kind of three positions.