Tulane Baseball Tries to Get Off the Roller Coaster Ride vs. ECU
Last weekend, the Tulane baseball team went on the road and took two of three American Conference games against, at that time, the team tied at the top of the league, Wichita State. Now the Wave are in a similar position as they welcome to Uptown, East Carolina University. The Pirates come into this weekend's match up at 6-3 in American play, just a game behind conference leader, UAB, and on a five-game win streak. Tulane has improved to 4-5 in the American after last weekend's series win over the Shockers.
Mound Starters Very Up and Down
The Green Wave is hurting on the mound this season, as either the pitchers who were expected to do well have not, or the injury bug has bitten them.
Friday starter Trey Cehajic had a good beginning to the year, but in the last five games he has started, all losses, the graduate righty has averaged only 3.7-innings pitches, given up an average of 7.8 hits per those five games, and 5.4 runs per contest. The Wave need Cehajic to come through against
"Trey's going to have to give us a productive outing," Tulane head coach Jay Uhlman told us, "or we're going to make some decisions there."
Earlier this season, Saturday starter Beau Sampson hit a multi-game skid on the mound. The Green Wave coaches moved him into the bullpen, and the junior lefty has found his groove.
Usual Saturday starter, Jack Frankel, is still day to day with discomfort.
The starters on the mound for the Wave this weekend will be Cehajic on Friday, Jake Toporek on Saturday and a probable bullpen game on Sunday.
Toporek is coming off his best outing of the year, limiting the Wichita State to no runs in 5.1 innings with four strikeouts while surrendering just three hits and no walks last Thursday in the opener against the Shockers. The results earned him a mention in the American Conference weekly honor roll, his first of his career with Tulane.
Wachs on a Torrid Pace
In the midst of this ride, Tulane has one of the best players in the conference playing right field, Jason Wachs. The sophomore from Florida is riding an impressive 60-game on-base streak that began in April, 2025. In addition to that gawdy number, in the last five games, Wachs sports .533 batting average, four runs scored, eight hits, three doubles, a home run, four RBIs, 14 total bases, a .933 slugging percentage, seven walks, and a .686 on-base percentage.
"I think you like to think a lot of guys are really special," head coach Jay Uhlman said when talking about Wachs. "He came with a certain set of personality traits: confident, communicated well, his swing was always in a good place. He had a good arm, really athletic, a really good frame. Just having that subset of skills, and the mindset (to excel)."
Uhlman alluded to that mindset not always being present on the 2026 squad.
"You see this team, this year, that's been so wildly inconsistent," Uhlman continued. "where he's (Wachs) been consistent for almost two calendar years. I think that comes with the ability to know how to handle failure (and) challenge himself. He's got a short memory. He's the epitome of 'you can have four bad at-bats, but there's always the 5th one.' I think that's one of the reasons he is as successful as he is."
For Wachs, it's all about what happens before gameday.
"It's all about the prep work," the sophomore told us. "and going into the game being the most prepared that I can. I would say lifting (weights) before to the game, to prep right before the game, to BP (batting practice), try to make myself feel as good as I can right before the game, so I can go out there and get the results that I want.
"I don't really think about it (the 60-game on-base streak) too much. I just go out there and play my game.
"The real challenge for us, the real blue bloods of this conference, we're coming up on over the next few weeks," Uhlman said. "You say you want what you want (to challenge for the American championship), so we're going to find out how consistent we are
First pitch Friday and Saturday night is set for 6:30, with a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday. All games will be on WRBH 88.3 FM.
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.