Tulane & USF Baseball in Must Win Series in Turchin
The top eight teams out of the ten squads in the American Conference make it to the baseball tournament. For three years straight, Tulane has made Clearwater, Florida, the home of the league championship, like a home away from home. Jay Uhlman's troops have advanced to the championship game every year he has coached the Green Wave, winning it two of his three seasons and going to the NCAA Regionals. In 2026, the Wave is scrambling to make it into the tournament.
Battle to Stay Out of the Bottom
This year, the Wave has found itself dropping into the cellar of the conference in a three-way tie with Charlotte and South Florida. Tulane was swept in North Carolina by the 49ers last weekend. Now, the other team battling to get into that final eight, the Bulls of USF, come to New Orleans for the final home series for the Green Wave. The winner has a chance of making the American post season. The loser sees their chances drop to almost nil.
The Wave will send senior J.D. Rodriguez to the hill for the Friday night tilt. This is the righty's 11th start of the season, but only his second Friday start. Rodriguez had previously been the Sunday starter since the start of conference play before last weekend (six total starts). For the year, Rodriguez is 5-1 with a 4.97 ERA in a tied for team-high 50.2 innings worked. He is limiting opponents to a .275 batting average against.
Neither Tulane nor South Florida have announced their Saturday or Sunday starters. That is to be determined depending on the results and relief pitcher usage through the first game of the series.
Since an encouraging series win against rival East Carolina in mid-April in Turchin, Tulane has seen flashes of what could be.
Ups and Downs, but Mostly the Latter
The Wave lost two of three at Florida Atlantic the next weekend after ECU, but showed resilience and an explosive offense in the final game of the series, a win against the Owls. The Green Wave's mid-week game against nationally ranked Southern Miss in Hattiesburg saw TU lose on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.
American Conference leading UTSA comes to Uptown the next weekend. Tulane loses the first two, but pummels the Roadrunners in a Sunday win, followed by a comeback twice, revenge victory over Southern Miss at Turchin midweek. Then, the Charlotte trip.
Tulane was swept by the 49ers, getting ten-run ruled on Friday night in a shutout loss, the first time either of those had happened this season. Although the Wave made a showing of it on Sunday, the loss completed the sweep by Charlotte and sunk the Green Wave into that three-way tie at the bottom of the conference.
Scouting the Bulls
South Florida is on a skid of their own, losing six of their last seven games, getting swept at East Carolina two weekends ago and losing two of three at home to FAU.
First pitch Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. in Turchin Stadium. Same for Saturday. Sunday's game to wrap up the home season for the Wave is set for 1:00 p.m. Tulane finishes the regular season with no mid-week game, then goes on the road next week for a Thursday through Saturday series in Houston at Rice.
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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.