Tulane Swept on Walk Off Homer by UAB, 5-4

The Tulane baseball team used three errors by Alabama-Birmingham and some timely hitting to take the Blazers to the bottom of the 9th with the Green Wave ahead 4-3, but a walk and a homer to deep center field spelled doom for the Wave, as UAB completed the three-game sweep of Tulane with a 5-4 walkoff victory.

"They are devestated. They got walked off," coach Jay Uhlman said about his team in the locker room after the game. "We've been on the other side of that, on the positive side, and, unfortunately in this game, we were on the other side of it. We have to be able to handle both those emotions, those feelings.

"There were some things (in the game) that got in the way a little bit," Uhlman continued, "but from a mentality standpoint, competitiveness, I thought we came with the right attitude: we're not front-runners. I thought we competed with what we have for nine innings."

Wave Offense Showing Promise Early

Jake Toporek got the starting call on the mound, his first start since March 3 against Nicholls. A walk and a single with one out in the bottom of the 1st had runners at the corner. The left-hander from California struck out back-to-back Blazers to escape the inning.

The Tulane offense showed some life in the second inning, as back-to-back two out singles by Tye Wood and Johnny Elliott had Greenies at 1st and 2nd, but James Agabedis struck out to end the inning. The senior's batting average has not been where he would like, sitting at .103 going into the game.

Toporek got himself in trouble in the bottom of the second, giving up two straight singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. A called strike out gave some second wind to the Wave graduate, but a single up the middle scores two for UAB. A strike out and a sliding grab by right fielder Jason Wachs ended the Blazer threat with the score 2-0 after two.

The Wave threatened early in the third with a lead off single, then stolen base and advancing to third on a wild pitch by Tanner Chun, but a fly out by shortstop Kaikea Harrison and two strike out from designated hitter Jason Wachs and second baseman Nate Johnson left Chun stranded 90-feet away from home.

Wilcenski Outstanding Out of the Pen

A lead off double greeted Toporek in the bottom of the third. A sacrifice bunt and groundout, and Jake was pulled for Blaise Wilcenski on the mound and a runner at third. Wilcenski forced a groundout to end the Blazer inning with a goose egg.

Toporek went 2-and-two-thirds innings, threw 41-pitches, struck out four, walked two, and gave up two runs, both earned.

"I thought we pitched well," Uhlman told us after the game. "We gave up two homers on a windy day to a team that gets a lot of home runs. We pitched our ass off today."

Tulane Ties the Contest

The Green Wave, which had showed some offensive promise in the previous two innings, put some together two screaming doubles, the first by first baseman Trent Liolios, the second by designated hitter Brett Rowell to the base of the left field wall that drove Liolios home for the Greenies first run of the day. A Tye Wood ground out pushes Rowell to third, then catcher Elliott, who was seeing his first action in a week after going through concussion protocol, drove him home with a sacrifice fly. to tie the game 2-2. Two straight outs end the inning.

Wilcenski pitched solidly, setting down UAB in order in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning. Included in there was a sensational, leaning-into-the-dugout grab of a foul ball by catcher Elliott before he tumbled into his own teammates in the bunker for the final out of the 6th.

"I was right there. It was a great play," Uhlman said. "The way the wind was blowing, it blew it (the foul ball) right to our dugout. I was talking to him the whole time, 'It's coming back. You've got room. You've got this.' He's a heck of an athlete."

Green Wave Take the Lead

Tulane batters were seeing a new pitcher in the 5th and 6th inning, and were hitting it hard, just right into the teeth of the Blazer defense until left fielder Wood's two out homer over the left field wall gave the Green Wave their first lead of the series, 3-2.

"Blaise (Wilcenski) was tremendous," Uhlman stated. "He (retired) eleven in a row. He was terrific."

After a strike out to begin the bottom of the 7th, Wilcenski gave up his first hit, which brings a Jay Uhlman visit to the mound and a call to Beau Sampson from the pen. Sampson started the year as the Saturday starter and had some difficulties. Since being moved to the pen, the Oklahoma transfer has been virtually unhittable, tossing 4-and-two-thirds innings over a five-game stretch giving up only one hit and an incredible 0.00 ERA over that stretch. Sampson picks off the inherited base runner then forces a fly out to end the UAB threat with Tulane hanging on to that 3-2 lead.

Sampson started out well in the 8th, striking out the three-hole hitter, but giving up a game-tying homerun to the cleanup man, 3-3.

TU Retakes the Lead

In the top of the 9th, an error gets Johnny Elliott to 1st base. Evan Burg pinch-runs for Elliott and ends up at second on a groundout by Tanner Chun. A Harrison infield single scores Burg from 2nd, giving Tulane the lead, 4-3 heading into the final half of the inning.

Pitching Can't Close It Out

Tulane closer Sam Larson took the mound for the Wave in the bottom of the ninth to face the bottom third of the UAB lineup. Larson worked the Saturday game, working an inning and giving up two runs in the loss, but he has one of the lowest ERAs on the Wave staff at 2.53 on the year. But Larson gave up a walk to open the frame, then a two-run walk-off homer gives the Blazers a 5-4 win and a sweep of the Green Wave.

Ripples

- Jason Wachs extended his on-base streak to 55 games from the end of last season and the first 29 games this year with a hit against UAB in the second game of the weekend series. The 55 games is a career high.

Tulane returns home for a Tuesday night game against Nicholls. First pitch, 6:30 p.m. in Turchin Stadium.