Wave Baseball Loses Second Straight to Florida Atlantic Despite Roaring Comeback, 10-9
For eight innings, it looked like an almost instant replay of Friday night, as the Tulane baseball team couldn't get the bats going against Florida Atlantic pitching, but the Wave bats came alive in the top of the ninth, putting up a six-spot, but coming up short in a 10-9 loss to Florida Atlantic. The loss drops the Green Wave to an even-Steven 20-20 on the year, 6-8 in American Conference play, falling out of their sixth spot in the league, dangerously close to not making it into one of the final eight slots into the tournament which starts May 10th in Clearwater, Florida. FAU moves into a tie with TU at 6-8 in league games, 19-19 overall.
Wave Batters Dormant Until...
The Owls piled up double-digit hits, especially when FAU baserunners were in position to score, to a diving-knee-drop, leading 10-3 after seven innings.
Right fielder Jason Wachs would hit a solo blast in the top of the 8th, putting on a show just a half-hour from his hometown of Pembroke Pines, shortening a then-10-2 Florida Atlantic lead by one.
The Green Wave could only string together back-to-back hits twice. Once was in the sixth inning when 1st bagger Trent Liolios got an infield single, then Nolan Nawrocki pinch hit, his first appearance at the plate since the Lamar game due to an injury. The South Carolina transfer homered over the left field wall, cutting the FAU lead at the time to 4-2. The only other time Tulane had back-to-back knocks was in the wild west of a top of the ninth.
A Wild Ninth for the Wave
Walks, wild pitches, and hit batsmen by FAU pitching in the top of the 9th loaded the bases. Then Tanner Chun, who went 2-for-4 for the game, hit a double off the top of the right field wall to clear the base paths and make things closer, 10-6. After a strike out, designated hitter Matthias Haas smacked a two-out single up the middle to shorten the FAU lead to three, 10-7. 1st baseman Trent Liolios slapped a two-run double down the right field line to make it 10-9, Florida Atlantic. But catcher Hugh Pinkney popped up to end the game.
Florida Atlantic scored in every inning but the third, fourth, and eighth, putting up a four spot in the 7th.
Tulane Arms Not There
Left hander Jake Toporek started things off with 4.2-innings of work, giving up four runs all earned, on seven hits, walking two, and striking out four.
Jack Brafa came on in the 5th for two-thirds of an inning, giving up two runs with one of those earned, on two hits.
Jude Abbadessa followed with 1.1-innings on the hill, allowing five hits, four runs all earned.
Michael Devenney relieved for two-thirds of a frame, giving up two hits, but not allowing a run.
Then, a face on the mound we haven't seen this year made an appearance, as junior Max Mazinter came on in the 8th to work two-thirds of an inning, walking one, but not giving up a hit and pitching the Owls into a double play in the 8th. Mazinter had not been on the mound on a competitive basis since 2024 at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix. He had shoulder surgery the year before coming to Uptown.
The victory by FAU marks the first time since the end of March that the Green Wave has lost a weekend series.
Sunday's finale has its first pitch at 11:00 a.m. CDT. Though no pitcher has been announced as of this writing, J.D. Rodriguez is expected to the starter for Tulane.
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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.