The Green Wave came back from a 5-0 deficit to take down one of the top teams in the nation in midweek action.
The Tulane Green Wave showed strength in the face of adversity, coming back from a 5-0 deficit to take down the 12th-ranked Southern Miss Golden Eagles by a score of 7-6 on Tuesday night.
Sam Larson earned the victory on the mound for Tulane after pitching the final 1.1 innings of the frame. Jude Abbadessa earned the start, giving up three runs on three hits across 2.0 innings pitched. The program went through a total of eight pitchers on the night.
The Golden Eagles struck first on a solo home run by Joey Urban in the second at-bat of the game. The visiting squad would plate two more runs in the second inning and add another pair in the top of the third to take a commanding 5-0 lead.
That's where the Sluggerbirds woke up on offense.
Kaikea Harrison walked to open up the bottom of the third, and he'd come around to score on a single by Tanner Chun. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. Jason Wachs would drive in another run on a groundout, while two more runs came home on a single by Matthias Haas to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Southern Miss extended its lead to 6-4 in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Matthew Russo, but Matthias Haas would smoke a homer of his own to left field in the bottom of the frame to get the run back.
After a quiet few innings, Trent Liolios tied the game at six runs apiece with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. The home team would take the lead thanks to some clutch situational hitting in the eighth: Johnny Elliott singled and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and Chun drove him home with his second RBI single of the night.
Aside from giving up a walk in the ninth, Larson managed to shut the game down rather quickly to secure the massive victory for his team.
Haas led Tulane offensively with a 3-for-4 appearance at the plate that included three RBI and one home run. Chun had a much-needed strong outing, batting 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.
Though the Green Wave has faced a disappointing stretch of games, a big midweek win against a top-15 program could be exactly what the team needs to finish the year strong and potentially make some noise in the American Conference Tournament.
Up next, the Sluggerbirds will hit the road to take on the Charlotte 49ers for a three-game league series. First pitch for Friday's first game is set for 5 p.m. CT. Game two will begin at 3 p.m. CT, while Sunday's final contest starts at 12 p.m. CT.