Tulane baseball snapped a rough stretch with an 8-1 rubber match win at Wichita State, improving to 17-16 with home series against ECU on deck.
What a big weekend for the Tulane Green Wave baseball program.
The Sluggerbirds entered Saturday's rubber match against the Wichita State Shockers on a tough loss, but they prevailed with an 8-1 win to claim the victory in the second American Conference road series of the season.
J.D. Rodriguez earned the win on the mound, improving to a perfect 4-0 on the year. The starting pitcher went 6.1 innings, giving up just one run on four hits with no walked batters and four strikeouts. Solid relief performances by Jack Brafa and Sam Larson sealed the deal for the Green Wave.
Tulane gave its entire pitching staff a bit of breathing room early, as the bats were hot to start the afternoon. Trent Liolios drove in the first run of the day in the first inning, with an RBI groundout to bring home Nate Johnson.
Johnson would flip the tables a bit in the top of the second inning, driving in another pair of runs on an RBI single to give his team the 3-0 advantage. He'd later come around to score his second run of the day on an RBI single by Jason Wachs, and the Wave would roll with a 4-0 lead.
The runs didn't stop there. Much like the first two frames, the third inning featured another crooked number on the scoreboard. After Hugh Pinkney reached base, James Agabedis would blast a two-run home run and put the Green Wave up 6-0.
From there, it's safe to say it was smooth sailing for Tulane, and the Sluggerbirds seemed to have some fun and loosen up a bit with the large lead. Though the Shockers were able to tack on a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut into the deficit, the Green Wave responded. A sacrifice fly from Tanner Chun scored Matthias Haas in the eighth inning, and Wachs put nail in the coffin with a solo homer in the ninth to push the lead to 8-1.
Wachs went 3-for-4 on the day with two RBI, one run scored, one double and one home run. Haas also put together an impressive showing, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double. Johnson was the lone other Tulane player to record multiple hits on the day, with a 2-for-5 day at the plate that included two runs scored and two RBI.
With the win, the Green Wave has improved to 17-16 on the season, including a 4-5 mark in league play. It's a big step up for the program, which was swept on the road against the UAB Blazers last weekend. Some of the pieces seem to finally be falling into place, and it couldn't be coming at a better time.
Tulane has a few days off before a midweek matchup on the road against the Lamar Cardinals. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7th. From there, the Sluggerbirds will return to Greer Field at Turchin Stadium for a three-game series against the East Carolina Pirates. The hotly-contested matchup begins on Friday night.