The Green Wave took an early advantage over the Bruins, but things quickly unraveled against one of the nation's top offenses.
The odds were heavily stacked against the Tulane Green Wave on Tuesday night, as it took the diamond against the top team in the entire nation in the UCLA Bruins.
Nevertheless, the Green Wave gave it a good shot before ultimately falling to the home-standing Bruins by a score of 13-5.
Tulane hung around well for the first few innings of action. Kaikea Harrison continued his hot start to the season by drilling the first pitch of the game for a single, while Tye Wood followed him up with a single of his own to put two on with no outs for the visiting squad. Jason Wachs' double in the next at-bat drove both runners in, and for a moment, the Green Wave had stunned UCLA with its hot start. Not to mention, the success came against one of the highest-regarded freshman players in the country in pitcher Angel Cervantes.
From there... things started to slip away rather quickly.
JD Rodriguez, who entered the game off of a standout appearance in relief against the Loyola Marymount Lions, didn't find the same success as a starter -- though his defense certainly didn't help. The right-handed pitcher gave up three hits, one walk and four runs, although only one of those runs was earned.
After recording a routine fly-out to start the first inning, Rodriguez gave up a first-pitch home run to Roch Cholowsky. He recovered nicely to maintain a 2-1 lead for his team after the opening frame.
Three more runs would cross home for the Bruins in the second inning, though all were technically unearned thanks to a throwing error at third base. Blaise Wilcenski replaced Rodriguez after just three batters.
The game was certainly far from over from there, as Nolan Nawrocki and Tanner Chun each drove in a run in the third inning to tie things at four. However, whatever Tulane did, UCLA seemed to double: the Bruins added two-run home runs in both the third and fourth innings. Another pair of runs crossed the dish in the fifth to give the Green Wave a 10-4 deficit.
Catcher Johnny Elliott hit the visiting squad's only home run of the night in the seventh inning, but it was far from enough to catch back up, as UCLA ran away with the 13-5 win.
Of course, a road victory over the nation's current No. 1 team would have been thrilling for the Green Wave, but the team didn't have much to lose at this point in the season. While no loss is "good," the game served as a big wake-up call for the program and gives it a chance to evaluate what it must improve to compete with the best of the best.
Tulane will host its first home series of the season beginning on Friday, as the Green Wave welcomes the Harvard Crimson to Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. First pitch in game one of the three-game series is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.