Tulane Baseball Prepares for Final Series of Regular Season With Plenty on the Line
The Tulane Green Wave are heading into the final series of the regular season and can still end up with any number of outcomes for the conference playoffs.
The American Athletic Conference uses an eight-seed, two-bracket, double-elimination format for their postseason that will begin on Tuesday, May 20.
What's On the Line for Tulane This weekend?
While the Green Wave have already cemented themselves with a spot in the playoffs, they could still end up seeded anywhere from No. 2 to No. 6 since every team in that range are within a three-game spread.
Among a couple of things that would need to happen for Tulane to earn the second seed is the Charlotte 49ers has to lose all of their games this weekend.
Luckily for Tulane, that is in their control since the two teams will face off in this weekend's series in New Orleans.
The Green Wave are 30-21 overall on the year with a 13-11 conference record. The 49ers are 32-20 this season and 15-9 in the AAC.
This will be a fluid weekend for Tulane as Luc Fladda is the only set starter. He will take the mound in Game 1, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Fladda has a 6.65 ERA on the year with a 1.43 WHIP. He's allowed 11 home runs, which has been his biggest weakness.
Normally, a pitcher striking out 60 batters and only walking 11 in 67.2 innings would be a signifier of a great season. He does have a 4.47 FIP, which signals he's been a bit unlucky.
Charlotte has not announced any pitchers for this weekend, but the first game will be likely be the Georgia Bulldogs transfer Blake Gillespie.
Gillespie has had a fantastic year with a 2.65 ERA. He's struck out 112 batters and walked 17 in 88.1 innings. He has a 0.88 WHIP.
Game 2 will take place on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and the series will close out at 2:00 p.m.
Given the importance of this final set heading into the playoffs, both teams will be extra conscious with how they use their pitching.
As a team, the 49ers have a 4.42 ERA. That's the 30th-best mark in the country. For comparison, the Green Wave rank No. 173 overall with a 6.28 staff ERA.
This won't be an easy set of games for Tulane to win, but winning is certainly doable for them.
At least they will be present in Clearwater next week for the conference tournament no matter what happens in this finale series.
