Tulane Falls in Conference Opener to Memphis, 7-6
The Tulane baseball team (11-12, 0-1 American) lost a 7-6 game to visiting Memphis (6-14, 1-0 American) on Friday, March 20, on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
Trey Cehajic (1-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering six runs (five earned) on eight hits in five innings with five strikeouts. Jack Brafa allowed a run on a hit and two walks with three strikeouts in his two innings. Sam Larson threw a scoreless frame with a strikeout. LuisPablo Navarro closed out the game striking out the side in the ninth inning.
Jason Wachs led the offensive attack for Tulane with three hits and three runs scored plus an RBI. Nate Johnson also had a multiple-hit performance with two hits plus three walks. Trent Liolios tallied a pair of hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Hugh Pinkney picked up a hit and an RBI. Tye Wood drove in a run, scored a run and had a hit. Brett Rowell tallied a pinch-hit single that drove in a run. Kaikea Harrison drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt.
Green Wave Falls Behind Early Again
Memphis scored a run in the first inning as a James Smith single drove in Freddy Rodriguez. The Tigers doubled the advantage, 2-0, on a Javon Hernandez single in the second.
Tulane tied the game up at two with a pair of runs, 2-2, in the second inning on a double from Liolios and a sacrifice bunt from Harrison.
Memphis grabbed the lead back for good with two runs in the third, 4-2, on Tyler Harrington’s single and Jack Little’s sacrifice fly.
The Green Wave scored a run, 4-3, in the third inning on a home run from Wachs.
Memphis again extended the advantage, 6-3, on solo home runs from Tyler Harrington and Cade Hitson.
Rowell brought the Green Wave a run closer, 6-4, with two-out pinch-hit single to plate Liolios in the sixth. Tulane closed the gap even closer, 6-5, with an RBI single from Pinkney in the seventh.
Memphis got the insurance run back in the eighth, 7-5, on Trae Cassidy’s RBI single.
The ninth featured a one-out double from Wachs followed by Nate Johnson’s walk to put a pair of runners on base and only one out. A fielder’s choice grounder off the bat of Johnny Elliott saw Wachs score all the way from second on the missed catch by the pitcher covering first to get Tulane to within a 7-6 margin before a ground out ended the game.
Next, Tulane plays the second game of the series against Memphis on Saturday, March 21, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Ripples
- Jason Wachs extended his on-base streak to 49 games from the end of last season and the first 23 games this year with three hits against Memphis. The 49 games is a career high.
- The loss snapped Tulane’s two-game winning streak.
- Brett Rowell’s pinch-hit single was only the second successful pinch hit of the season for the program.
- The team’s 11 hits were the second-most hits in a game this season and the most since the program had 13 hits against Loyola Marymount in the second game of the season (2/14/26).
- The three-hit game from Jason Wachs was his eight multi-hit performance and third three-hit game of the campaign.
- The 12 strikeouts recorded by the Tulane pitching staff was the 12th time the program has reached double figures in strikeouts this season and the third consecutive game.
- Over the last six games, Tulane’s relief pitchers have thrown 39.1 innings with just seven runs allowed while striking out 45.
Portions Courtesy Tulane Athletics
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.