Tulane Baseball Rallies to Knock off #12 Southern Miss, 7-6
A week ago, the Tulane baseball team came this close to claiming a victory against then 15th ranked Southern Miss before the Golden Eagles got a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th to claim victory. This time, in the friendly confines of Turchin Stadium, the Green Wave didn't quite walk it off, but did rally, scoring three runs in the last four innings to take down the now 12th ranked men from Hattiesburg, 7-6. The win puts Tulane at 23-23 on the year. Southern Miss drops to 31-14.
It's the first time in Jay Uhlman's seven years at Tulane, three as an assistant, four as a head coach, that the Wave have beaten the Golden Eagles.
First Win vs. Southern Miss for Uhlman
"Some of the scores have been close, but I'll be honest with you," Uhlman said after the game, "we haven't played well against them. They didn't hand us this game, we had to earn it, like on Sunday (in Tulane's come-from-behind win over American Conference leading UTSA). For me, the stick to the bones kind of wins, (like this one against USM and Sunday's vs. UTSA), those are two wins we can feel good about and build on moving forward."
Wave Rallies from Behind Again
The Golden Eagles built up a 5-nothing lead over the first three innings. Then, the Tulane bats came alive, scoring 4-runs in the bottom of the third, then a run each in the 5th, 7th, and 8th while holding USM to a run in that span.
Right handed reliever Sam Larson pitched the last 2.2-innings to earn the victory and feels this game and the UTSA win on Sunday are indicators of what this Tulane team can do.
"I think it's a ton of momentum," Larson said after the game. "Offense is really, really picking up, good momentum going into the start of the weekend. It's good they can trust the pitching staff to keep us in the game,"
Green Wave Bats Coming Alive
Leading that offense was designated hitter Matthias Haas who went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a towering solo homerun over the left field wall in the fifth inning to pull the Green Wave within one run.
"I believe it was a changeup," Haas said speaking of the pitch he sent over the fence. "I was just stepping up to the plate, trying to be aggressive to my zone. It was a good pitch to hit."
Add to that 1st bagger Trent Liolios' solo homer over the right field wall in the 7th, and you have a tie ball game, 6-6 going into the 8th.
The two guys who delivered for Tulane in the bottom of that inning had gone a collective 1-for-6 in their at bats with two strike outs and hitting into a double play between them. That changed in the 8th.
Eight Inning Heroes Come Through After Slow Start
Catcher Johnny Elliott was a last-minute replacement for starter Hugh Pinkney who had been hit in the noggin by a stray ball right before the game began. With one out, Elliott strokes a single into left field and advances on a wild pitch to second base. After a strikeout, nine-hole hitter, center fielder Tanner Chun pushes a two-out single through the left side of the infield, hit just slowly enough to allow a lumbering Elliott to score from second, giving the Wave the lead for the first time in the game, one they would not relinquish.
"Just sticking with my approach, staying within myself," Chun said about his game-winning single, "putting a good swing on the ball. That's what I've been working on the past few weeks. I'm glad it worked out, and I could help out the team."
Now on a two-game come-from-behind winning streak, the Green Wave travel to Charlotte this weekend to take on the 49ers in a key American Conference series for the Wave. If the chips fall just right, Tulane can climb into the fourth slot for the American tournament with three conference series remaining on the schedule.
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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.