Tulane Opens Wichita State Series with Impressive 4-2 Win
Tulane opened their Easter weekend series on Thursday, visiting Wichita State. The Green Wave sent left hander Jake Toporek to the mound for his third start of the season, and the Wagner College transfer pitched spectacularly over five innings to lead the Wave to a 4-2 American Conference win over the Shockers.
Green Wave Bats Come Alive Early
The Wave opened the top of the first with leadoff hitter Kaikea Harrison reaching on an error, but getting caught stealing. The Tulane shortstop is now 6-for-10 in stolen bases. Batting second, Nate Johnson walked and scored the only run in the 1st frame when he was driven in by a sharp single off the bat of 1st baseman Trent Liolios, making it Tulane up, 1-zip.
Toporek Starts Sharp on the Mound
Green Wave pitcher Jake Toporek started keenly, putting down the Wichita lineup in order in the bottom of the 1st.
Tulane put a couple of runners on with a Tye Wood leadoff single, then a Tanner Chun walk, but both were stranded to end the 2nd.
A leadoff double by Wichita in the bottom of the 2nd set the Shockers up to tie the game, but Toporek was able to put down Wichita three-in-a-row, including getting two consecutive strike outs to end the inning.
Wave Batters Wichita Ace
After a Nate Johnson ground out to start the 3rd, right fielder Jason Wachs walked and Liolios continued his hot streak, doubling Wachs to 3rd. A Hugh Pinkney walk loaded the bases for Wood, who is now 2-for-3 with the bases loaded on the season, as the Green Wave left fielder cracked a double down the right field line to give the Wave a 3-0 lead.
The Shockers' pitcher, Matthew Cuccias, was not on target Thursday. Through the first three innings, the Wichita ace had already walked four and given up those three Wave runs, all of them earned.
Meanwhile, Toporek continued to take care of Wichita State batters, setting them down in order in the bottom of the third and accounting for his fourth strikeout of the game.
The top of the 4th found the Green Wave going down 1-2-3 for the first time in the game.
More Toporek Magic on the Mound
The bottom of the 4th had Kaikea Harrison accounting for his 6th error of the year, but that Shocker runner was stranded as Toporek continued his near-perfect pitching while only throwing 44-total pitches through the first four innings.
Into the fifth, a two-out single by Hugh Pinkney, then Wood, who was 2-for-2 with a single and a double, smacks a single to left center, sending Pinkney to third and sending the Wichita starter to the showers. Senior Mattias Haas is sent to pinch-hit but is stranded in the box as a failed double steal has Pinkney caught attempting to steal home to end the inning with Tulane leading 3-0.
A leadoff single by Wichita in the bottom of the 5th, then a highlight reel leaping catch in deep left center field by left fielder Wood for the 1st out. A sacrifice bunt pushes the Shocker runner to 2nd, but is stranded there. Wichita State is starting to connect on Toporek's pitches, and the Green Wave bullpen begins to get warmed up.
More Stranded Runners for the Wave
Haas comes back to the batter's box in the top of the 6th and sends a 3-2 pitch through the right side of the infield. He's pushed to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by 3rd baseman James Agabedis, then to third base on a long fly out by Chun, but is stranded there on a Harrison line out, leaving Haas the seventh runner on base for the Wave through seven frames.
Two more hard-hit balls, one a come-backer to Toporek for an out, then a single through the shifted infield, sends the graduate to the dugout. In only his third start of the year, he pitched 5-and-a-third innings, striking out four, giving up only three hits one of which was a double. He was the first starting Tulane pitcher to go over five innings in a month. Jude Abbadessa takes to the mound, quickly striking out the first batter he faces and squeezes a fly ball to center field to end the 6th with Tulane still leading 3-0.
The top of the seventh, has Wachs smacking a one-out single to center, but two strike outs strand another Greenie on the base paths, a total of eight in the game through seven.
A leadoff double down the right field line for Wichita against Abbadessa opens the bottom of the 7th. The Shocker base runner is pushed to third, then an RBI single to the right side gives Wichita their first run, Tulane still in the lead 3-1. It's the first time the Shockers have had more than one hit in an inning. An infield single to the left side has the lead run coming to the plate. Abbadessa forces a ground out to hang on to the Tulane lead, 3-1.
Wood Goes Yard
It didn't take long to get that run back, as left fielder Wood spanks a home run deep over the left field wall for his second homer from the right side batter's box this year. That chases a second Shocker pitcher into the dugout for the night. The Wave goes down three in a row to end their half of the 8th, leading 4-1.
Sampson and Larson Combine to Close Out a Tulane Victory
Beau Sampson enters the game on the mound. The former Saturday starter struggled when he was used at the beginning of the game, but since coming out of the bullpen, he has been almost unhittable with a 1.1 ERA from the pen. A harmless single is the meat in a dressed sandwich of three outs, leaving TU up 4-1 after eight.
Three up, three down for the Wave again in the top of the ninth.
Sampson comes back to attempt to save the game. He gets an out, then gives up a double and a pinch-hit, run-scoring single by the Shockers to make it a 4-2 Tulane advantage. A fly out sends Sampson to the showers and brings in Sam Larson for the final out, which he gets in two pitches with a come-backer to the mound, earning Larson his second save of the year.
This is the first series opening win for the Green Wave since the Eastern Kentucky series on February 27th.
Now 16-15 on the year, 3-4 in American Conference play, the Wave send usual series opening starter Trey Cehajic to the mound Friday night. First pitch, 6:05 p.m. from Wichita.
Ripples
- Left fielder Tye Wood was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double, a towering home run down the left field line, and three RBI.
- Jason Wachs' on-base streak hit 57 in-a-row, his personal best stretch continuing.
- The top two batters in the Green Wave lineup went 1-13 tonight.
- Trent Liolios continued his hot streak, going 2-for-4 with a double, scoring a run and earning an RBI.
- Tulane pitching scattered nine hits on the night to Wichita batters. They didn't walk a batter the entire game. It's the first time Wave pitching has not given up a walk since Tulane's 11-1 win over Harvard on February 22nd.
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.