Tulane Swept by Creighton, Falling 5-4 Sunday
The Tulane baseball team (9-11) allowed a run in the top of the ninth inning to fall 5-4 to visiting Creighton (8-8) on Sunday, March 15, on Green Field at Turchin Stadium.
Tulane Pitching Can't Solve Blue Jays
Jake Toporek (0-2) was the tough luck loser as an inherited run came in to score in the ninth after he had exited the game. He allowed just that run on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen. J.D. Rodriguez started for Tulane. He surrendered three runs (two earned) in 2.1 innings worked with two strikeouts. Tom Vincent was the first man out of the bullpen. He went an inning while allowing two hits and a run. Jude Abbadessa was unable to record an out while walking two before he gave way to Sam Larson. Larson threw 2.1 scoreless relief innings with a strikeout. Michael Devenney made a brief 0.1 of an inning appearance where he retired a man to end the sixth inning before exiting after running into some trouble in the seventh that Toporek helped him escape. Jacob Moore entered after Toporek in the ninth and was unable to retire the only man he faced. Beau Sampson threw the final 0.2 of an inning for Tulane.
Kaikea Harrison helped lead the offensive charge with a two-run home run. Hugh Pinkney totaled a pair of hits including a home run. Tye Wood also had a pair of hits plus a walk. Bryson Ayala walked and scored a run. Tanner Chun recorded a pair of walks. Jason Wachs had the team’s other hit.
First Bubble Blast
Since the building of the Indoor Practice Facility, we have been wondering when the first home run to right field would bounce off the big, white blow-up space on Claiborne. It was Tulane catcher Hugh Pinkney, who did the honors with a solo blast to lead off the 4th inning of play.
Lost Opportunities for the Wave
Tulane’s best opportunity to win the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning in a tied game when Wood had a one-out single. After a foul out, Jack Johnson walked to put a pair of runners on base, but a strikeout by the ensuing batter ended the potential threat.
For the third straight game, Creighton scored first as Nate McHugh hit his fourth home run of the season in the first inning to put the Blue Jays up 1-0.
Creighton added a tally to the advantage, 2-0, in the second on a solo home run from Isaac Wachsmann.
The Blue Jays scored another run in the third on a Wachsmann single to put the deficit at 3-0.
The Green Wave began to fight back and scored the team’s first run of the game on a two-out soft single from Nate Johnson.
The Bluejays picked up a run in the fifth inning on a bases loaded walk to Ben North to go up 4-1.
Pinkney’s home run in the fifth cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
A two-run home run from Harrison in the seventh tied the game at four all and gave the Green Wave new life.
Creighton took the lead, 5-4, back for good in the top of the ninth on Connor Capece’s would be ground out that was mishandled allowing the runner to score from third.
Next Up
Next, Tulane keeps the homestand going and hosts UNO on Tuesday, March 17, starting at 6:30 p.m. It will be the first of two home midweeks against in-state opponents at Northwestern State comes to Greer Field at Turchin Stadium on Wednesday, March 18, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Ripples
- Jason Wachs extended his on-base streak to 46 games from the end of last season and the first 20 games this year with a hit against Creighton in the third game. The 46 games is a career high.
- The current five-game losing streak is the longest for the program since last season (3/25-4/1/25) when the team also lost five in a row.
- The weekend series sweep by Creighton is the first time Tulane has been swept at home since the final conference series of the 2025 season to Charlotte (5/15-17/25)
- The non-conference sweep at home is the first for the program since losing all three games to UC Irvine during the 2024 campaign (2/23/-25/24).
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.