Tulane Baseball Uses Extra Base Hits, Timely Pitching to take Home Opener over Harvard, 7-3
Tulane baseball pounded out ten hits, three of them doubles, as the Green Wave won their home opener against Harvard, 7-3. The Wave scored at least once in each of the first three innings then put up two more runs to ice the victory over the Crimson.
Wachs Stars Offensively and Defensively
Jason Wachs was the star of the game both at the plate and in right field. The 6' 2" sophomore laced a pair of singles and accounted for two RBIs, going two-for-three at the plate, along with a sacrifice fly to plate teammate Matthias Haas, who had singled to start the 2nd inning. Defensively, Wachs showed why he was in right field. In the top of the third, Harvard was threatening. With the bases loaded and the Crimson already putting a run up on the scorecard, a single to right field had Harvard looking to score plenty more. Instead, Wachs fielded the bouncer cleanly and threw a rocket to home plate, forcing the Crimson to stay put after only one base runner scored. The Wave was able to get out of the inning with much less damage than what could have been.
Designated hitter Matthias Haas had a pair of singles in four at-bats, scoring a run, and knocking in an RBI. Left fielder Tye Wood singled, stole a base and scored a run.
Center fielder Tanner Chun continues to be a target of sorts. For the fourth time this season, Chun was hit by a pitch, this time in the 3rd, stealing a base and scoring a run later that inning. The sophomore from Honolulu also cracked a double, walked and stole another base in the game. In total, Wave runners hijacked four bases in the game.
Larson Puts on a Pitching Show
Starting pitcher Trey Cehajic lasted three innings, giving up five hits, two runs both earned, walking three and striking out four. After Jack Brafa's one-and-two-thirds inning stint on the mound, Sam Larson proceeded to put on a pitching clinic. The junior from Illinois put together a three-and-two-thirds inning performance, giving up only one hit, walking two and striking out a team-high six. The last five hitters Larson faced were strikeouts. Jude Abbadessa finished the night, going the final inning and two-thirds, striking out two.
As a team, Tulane pitchers struck out fourteen Crimson on the night, setting down seven-in-a-row via the strikeout from the end of the 6th through the 8th innings.
Wave Better about Emptying the Bases
A bug-a-boo so far this season for the Green Wave has been leaving runners on base, not so against Harvard. The Crimson were doing it this time around stranding a baker's dozen. Tulane stranded six.
This was Harvard's season opener. Now 3-2 on the young season, Tulane plays host to the Crimson in game two of their three game set on Saturday, with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. at Turchin Stadium.
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.