The Green Wave pitching staff as a whole had one of its worst performances of the season en route to the 13-6 loss.
The Tulane Green Wave continues to spiral on the diamond, as the team took its fourth loss in a row on Tuesday night, falling 13-6 to the defending national champion LSU Tigers.
Once again, the game was simply a matter of Tulane falling too far behind early and never being able to catch back up. The Green Wave rolled with starting pitcher LuisPablo Navarro, but he wasn't able to record a single out as he gave up a walk, a two-run home run and a second walk to open up the contest.
Though Jack Brafa would enter the game and manage escape the frame, it wouldn't come without more traffic on the bases. All in all, the Tigers would take a 6-0 lead after the first inning.
Jude Abbadessa came on in relief in the second inning, but he'd struggle just as much as his teammates. He recorded just one out while giving up three more runs to put his Sluggerbirds in a 9-0 hole.
Down but not out, Tulane would make a bit of noise and cut heavily into the Tigers' lead. Tanner Chun continued his hot stretch of games with a single in the third inning, and he'd come home on a double by Jason Wachs to score the visiting squad's first run of the night. The Green Wave plated two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to some clutch two-out hitting and would add another pair in the fifth on a two-run home run by Wachs. Just like that, the team only trailed by a score of 9-5 with plenty of baseball left to play.
Unfortunately for Tulane, things would only fall apart from there. LSU scored four more runs across the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take a commanding 13-5 lead, and a solo home run by Nate Johnson in the eighth inning was far from enough to propel any sort of comeback.
Offensively, the Green Wave managed to smash 11 hits, but the team struck out 13 times. Wachs was easily the top performer in the lineup, going 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, a run scored, one double and one home run. Chun and Johnny Elliott had two hits apiece.
Meanwhile, 10 pitchers -- yes, you read that right -- saw action on the mound for the boys from Uptown. The staff combined for one of its worst outings of the entire season, giving up 13 runs on 16 hits while walking six batters and recording just three strikeouts. Nine of those hits were for extra bases.
The season isn't over, but Tulane is in a tough spot. The team desperately needs to find a way to dig deep and end the season with some victories; it's now or never. The Green Wave will take on the South Florida Bulls in its final home series of the season beginning on Friday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. from Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.