Tulane's Pitching Leads to Shutout Win Over NSU, 2-0

Tulane played Northwestern State Wednesday as they attempt to regain a .500 record.

Senior J.D. Rodriguez started for the Wave with a 3.98 ERA, a 1.62 WHIP, and a 3-0 record through 20.1 innings this season.

Sophomore Carter White would start for the Demons with a 11.42 ERA, a 2.13 WHIP, and a 0-3 record on 17 and a third innings pitched.

First Inning: 0-0

The top half of the inning began with Brooks Leonard stepping up to the plate for the Demons. He’d foul off the first pitch before hitting a pop fly into shallow left field for the first out. Thomas Marsala III would step up next for the Demons. He’d quickly fall behind at 0-2 before striking out on four pitches. Ethan Menard is up next, and he wouldn’t make things much better for the Demons after grounding out to Tulane shortstop Kaikea Harrison for the third and final out of the top half of the inning.

Continuing his work from the top half of the inning, Kaikea Harrison would lead off for the Wave. He’d take the first pitch for a ball before popping out to the left fielder Colton Harrison. Up next for TU would be Tanner Chun, and he would work the count to 3-1 before taking first base after being walked. Jason Wachs is up next, and he would hit a line drive to shallow right field, earning the Wave’s first hit of the evening as Chun would work his way to third. Nate Johnson is up next with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom of the first. Nate Johnson hits a line drive to the second baseman, as Wachs would be caught with his pants down between first and second, and Zach White of NSU would throw him out at first.

Second Inning: 0-0

Left fielder Colton Harrison steps up to the plate next for the Demons. He would fall behind in three pitches at 1-2 and would buckle at the fourth pitch for J.D.’s second strikeout. JT Simonelli would take a hack at the first pitch, but he would pop up in foul territory with Green Wave’s first baseman, Nate Johnson, would make the catch for the second out of the inning. Michael McAloose would hit a single into right-center field for the Demon’s first hit of the game. Sebastian Huerta would then ground out into a fielder’s choice to shortstop Kaikea Harrison.

Switch hitter Tye Wood would step into the batter’s box for the bottom of the second. He’d take the first three pitches to work a nice 3-0 hitter’s count. He’d take a swing at the next two pitches, fouling both of them to a full count before grounding out to the first baseman for the first out. Designated hitter Trent Liolios steps up next and drives the second pitch into shallow right field for the Wave’s second hit of the game. Johnny Elliott is up next with a man on first and one out in the second. Liolios would steal second on an odd sequence of events, but a man on second nonetheless. Elliot would drive the next pitch up the middle for a single, moving Liolios to third in the process. James Agabedis leads the charge with runners on the corners with one out. Agabedis would take a swing at the second pitch and would pop up into foul territory with shortstop Sam Ardoin making the play for the Demons, making it two outs in the innning. Jack Johnson stepped into the batter’s box, hitting a sharply hit ball into right-center, but Demon centerfielder JT Simonelli would make the catch, ending the inning with two runners left on base for the Wave.

Third Inning: 0-0

Zach White leads off for the Demons in the third. White would fall behind 1-2, and would strike out swinging on the next pitch. The ninth hitter, Sam Ardoin, would be next for the Demons, and he would hit a blooper to the shortstop Harrison, and Harrison would leap for a jumping catch for the second out of the inning. Back to the top of the lineup with Leonard, as he would hit a dribbler down the first base line, but pitcher Rodriguez couldn’t scoop the ball to make the tough play, resulting in a two-out base hit for the Demons. Marsala is next for the Demons, and he would get ahead in three pitches with a 3-0 count before flying out to the left fielder as J.D. Rodriguez continues his shutout performance through three.

Starting with the top of the lineup Kaikea Harrison for the Wave, he would take the first pitch for a ball before flying out to the left fielder to start the inning. Chun stepped into the box and would swing through the first two pitches to fall behind 0-2. He’d take the next pitch for a ball before hitting a dribbler to the first baseman for the second out of the inning. Lefty Jason Wachs steps up and falls behind 0-2 before working it back up to a full count. He would take the next pitch, however, and would strike out looking for the final out.

Fourth Inning: 0-0

The Wave would make a change at pitcher to start the inning, bringing in Jude Abbadessa.

The Demon’s DH, Ethan Menard, is up after a wonderful chorus from Tulane second baseman AJ Groeneveld. Menard would hit a ground ball that barely made it past Wave third baseman Agabedis for a single. Colton Harrison would step in with a man on first with no outs, but would strike out looking for Jude Abbadessa’s first K of the game. JT Simonelli would ground out to first. Kaikea would catch the throw from first for the double play, but would initially miss the tag and the runner would be called safe. Tulane would challenge the play and win the challenge, getting the double play and ending the inning.

Tulane would lead off the fourth with first baseman Nate Johnson, as he would work a 2-1 count before hitting a towering fly ball into shallow right field for the first out. Tye Wood is up for Tulane and he’d hit a fly ball to second base, which was caught by Zach White for the second out. Trent Liolios patiently waited for his pitch, working a seven pitch AB, but lined out to the left fielder for the third out.

Fifth Inning: 0-0

McAloosse leads off for the Demons and strikes out looking for the second K of the afternoon for Abbadessa, and the fifth total strike out for the Demons. Sebastian Huerta of the Demons would take a swing at the first pitch and would make solid contact, but he would fly out to right field for the second out. Zach White would get a full count, but would strike out looking for the backwards K, bringing the total to three for Abbadessa.

Northwestern would make a pitching change, substituting Carter White for Jacob Leblanc.

The seventh hitter, Johnny Elliott, takes the first AB of the fifth for the Wave. He’d make Jacob LeBlanc work for it, but Elliot would ground out to first for the first out. Senior Agabedis would come in and hit a dribbler just past the pitcher for a base hit. Jack Johnson would step in and hit a sac-bunt to advance Agabedis to second, but Johnson would be thrown out at first. Back to the top of the lineup with Kaikea, he’d work into a hitter's 3-1 count before hitting a floater into shallow left field with shortstop Sam Ardoin making the catch for the third out.

Sixth Inning: 0-0

Speaking of Ardoin, he leads off for the Demons in the sixth. He’d jump out to a 3-0 count before hitting a grounder to Harrison at shortstop for the first out. Brooks Leonard steps into the box and fell behind 0-2 before hitting an extremely well hit ball into left field, which was caught just before the warning track for the second out. Marsala would be looking for his first hit of the game next, but he wouldn’t find it here as he hits a grounder to first for the third out of the inning.

Tanner Chun is looking for his first hit of the game at leadoff as he was walked in his last AB. He’d work a nice 2-2 count before striking out looking for the first out. Jason Wachs steps in next but would fly out to left field on the first pitch. Nate Johnson also takes a hack at the first pitch and flies out to shallow left field for the final out.

Seventh Inning: 2-0

Menard is up again for the Demons and he’s one for two so far on the night. He hits a sharp grounder up the middle to the left of the mound, getting a lead off single for NSU. Colton Harrison is next for Northwestern, and he hits a high fly ball to right-center field for the first out. One of two lefties for the Demons, JT Simonelli, heads in and works a full count before a mound visit interrupts the AB. After the mound visit, Tulane pitcher Abbadessa gets Simonelli to strike out swinging while the runner at first takes off for second, but he’s thrown out by an impressive throw from catcher Johnny Elliott for the double play.

Tye Woods in the five spot leads off for Tulane. He’d quickly drag behind 0-2 before striking out looking for the first out. Trent Liolios is next up for the Greenies, as he’d take a four pitch walk to first. Northwestern State would take the opportunity to perform a mound visit before leaving LeBlanc in the game. Johnny Elliott walks into the box and hit a laser into centerfield for a base hit, moving Liolios to second. The Wave would substitute a pinch runner for Liolios, bringing in Nolan Nawrocki. LeBlanc would throw a wild pitch for the first pitch of Agabedis’ AB, moving the runners to second and third. Agabedis remained patient, working a full count before taking a fourth ball, loading the bases for the Wave.

NSU would make a pitching change after loading the bases, bringing in Caden Fiveash to close out the seventh.

TU would make a change of their own, bringing on a pinch hitter for Jack Johnson in Matthias Haas. With the bases loaded and one out, Haas would hit a slow grounder to shortstop, with the Demons getting a force out at third, but not before the runner from third would score, making the score 1-0 with two outs. Kaikea Harrison steps in with two runners on first and second, hoping to continue the success of this offense. He’d succeed after the left fielder dropped a tough catch as he’d hit a double, scoring the runner from second and moving the man on first to third, making the score 2-0. Tanner Chun followed while working to a full count before striking out swinging to end the seventh.

Eighth Inning: 2-0

Tulane makes a defensive change, bringing in Bryson Ayala at second for Matthias Haas who pinch hit in the previous inning.

Tulane makes a pitching change: substituting Jude Abbadessa for Tom Vincent

Third baseman McAloose is due for the Demons, leading off the eighth. McAloose worked a full count before hitting the highest fly ball of the night to shallow center, but Jack Johnson misjudged the fall, letting the ball drop for a single. Sebastian Huerta stepped in next for the Demons as he struck out looking for Tom Vincent’s first K of the night. NSU would bring in pinch hitter Mason Wray for the next AB. He’d hit into a fielder's choice to Harrison at shortstop, making that two outs on the inning with a runner still at first. The next batter’s AB would be interrupted by a mound visit for Tulane and would continue the inning shortly after. Sam Ardoin, the aforementioned ‘next batter’ would get to a nice 3-0 count before getting walked. The top of the lineup is now up with Brooks Leonard leading the charge with a man on first and second with two outs. TU would then make another mound visit, making the second pitching change of the inning for them.

Tulane takes out Tom Vincent for Julius Ejike-Charles.

Brooks Leonard takes his chances at the first pitch but would fly out to left-center field to end the inning.

Another pitching change: NSU takes out Caden Fiveash for Connor Wilson

Jason Wachs leads off the Wave in the three spot for the eighth inning, hoping to add onto the lead. Wachs remained patient, forcing a walk to open up the eighth for the Wave offense. Nate Johnson is up next for TU, looking for his first hit after going zero for his first three, but he couldn’t break the slump as he’d fly out to center field for the first out. Senior Tye Wood approaches the batter’s box with a man on first. Wood would take his second ball as Johnson attempted to steal second, but he was caught at second after he stepped off the bag for a split second, giving the Demons their second out. Wood continued his AB, but would get hit by the sixth pitch of the AB, giving the Wave another runner on first with one two outs.

The Demons make yet another change at pitcher: Connor Wilson comes out for Kevin Robinson.

Tulane brings in lefty pinch hitter Nolan Nawrocki to counter the pitcher change. Robinson then spent the first three pitches attempting to pick off Tye Wood but to no avail. Nawrocki would then hit a grounder to first base, ending the inning.

Ninth Inning: 2-0

Tulane makes a defensive change, bringing out Tye Wood for Evan Burg in left.

Thomas Marsala lead off for the Demons in the ninth before taking a four pitch walk to start the inning. Lane Lusk is now up for the Demons as the tying run with no outs.

Tulane makes a pitching change: bringing out Julius Ejike-Charles for LuisPablo Navarro.

Lusk tried to work the count but would strike out looking to Navarro for his first K. Bryce Johnson is up next with a man on first and one out in the top of the ninth, but he’d strike out swinging for Navarro’s second K of the inning. With the Demons down to their last out and the tying run at the plate, they call on Joe Siervo to save the game. Down to the last strike, Siervo swings big but grounds out to the second baseman for the final out of the game.

FINAL: Tulane: 2 VS Northwestern State: 0

Tulane got back to a much needed .500 while beating a good NSU squad. The pitching came through despite no pitcher going more than four innings on the mound, and the offense showed up when it mattered despite leaving some runners stranded early.

Strong Pitching Leads the Way

The pitching is where the Wave shine the brightest. Jude Abadessa would walk away with the win (1-1) and LuisPablo Navarro would come away with a save after a brilliant ninth inning.

Keep in mind that this a very strong NSU team offensively. Coming into the game, the Demons had five almost literal 'demons' to start their lineup. With the on base percentage going in order as follows: .370, .387, .333, .326, and .362.

JD Rodriguez played fantastic to start: pitching three innings and allowing only two hits, zero walks, and racking up three strikeouts. Jude Abbadessa would follow, pitching four scoreless innings while also only allowing two hits and getting one more strikout than the last pitcher.

Tom Vincent (0.2) and julius Ejike-Charles (0.1) would share the eighth before Navarro came out and struck two batters out before earning the win.

A Timely Offense

While they weren't an offensive juggernaut, what we did see was a solid outing from the Greenie bats. Catcher Johnny Elliott would lead the Green Wave offense, going 2-3 with two singles. Following him would be James Agabedis going 1-2 with a single, a run, and a walk.

Whenever you start conference play, you like to see your bottom of the lineup put these kind of numbers up while your top of the lineup continues to be great. It shows that both sides of the lineup can come through when needed.

The Green Wave might have been off to a rough start this season, but they've bounced back after two much needed back-to-back wins against UNO and NSU. Tulane opens conference play this weekend against Memphis in Turchin Stadium.