Tulane takes series vs UAB, preps for marathon two weeks

(Jackson Linn photo)

By Andrew Riedell

Another week has come and gone for Tulane, another home series win will be celebrated, but that will be short, as the Green Wave now face the toughest stretch of their schedule.

They host the University of New Orleans on Tuesday for Game 2 of the Pelican Cup and then hit the road for two weeks, facing off with AAC leader UTSA beginning Thursday and then known AAC powerhouse East Carolina the following weekend. In the middle of that, they also face Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, MS for a road midweek. Tulane just took two out of three from UAB, but instead of breaking down that series, I am going to review pitching and hitting as we reach halfway through conference play.

Hitting: .270 Average, .387 On Base %, 30 HR 227 RBI

It has been known this Tulane team is not going to be hitting the ball out of the ballpark frequently, as they are in the bottom half in the AAC for home runs. But, something at which they have done a phenomenal job is finding the gaps and hitting doubles. They have 85 doubles, good for second in the AAC behind UTSA, which leads the AAC in almost every offensive category.

Leading the way with doubles is Matthias Haas, who has 17 doubles so far this season and is hitting .320 on the season. Also, someone I feel I have not mentioned enough is Connor Rasmussen, who is probably Tulane's best hitter with a .329 average and on-base percentage of .407.

Leading the way for Tulane in home runs is an unlikely player, freshman Tanner Chun, who Coach Jay Uhlman says reminds him a lot of Mookie Betts. Chun is hitting .287 on the year with six home runs and takes full advantage of his opportunities when he gets them.

Jason Wachs, another freshman, has worked some really good at-bats, as well as finding himself hitting .291. For a freshman, he has already worked some really good veteran-like plate appearances. Hugh Pinkney is starting to find himself in the lineup more and more, and then you already know the veteran at-bats you will get from Gavin Schulz.

A name that I am looking forward to staying hot and becoming a factor in this lineup is Theo Bryant IV, the sixth year Tennessee Tech transfer who has hit three home runs in the last week. Coach Uhlman tells me he's really been liking what Theo is doing in the field as well. Bryant IV is hitting .313 in the 32 at-bats he has this year, and I feel his veteran experience will play a key role in these upcoming weeks.

Pitching: 5.23 ERA, 375 K, 161 BB, 28 HR allowed, .251 Opp BA

If there is one thing certain when it comes to this Tulane pitching staff right now, it is that whenever game one of a series comes around, you are going to give the ball to Luc Fladda. I believe Fladda can go toe to toe with any top pitcher in the AAC and against a bunch of other top programs as well. He has been phenomenal for the majority of the year. Three poor outings have skewed his ERA, but he has been good for a lot of this year and put his team in a position to win most of their Friday night games.

Trey Cehajic on Saturday might be becoming a question mark, as he has been a little inconsistent of late. The thing with him is, he is not getting hit hard, only giving up one home run on the season and a handful of doubles. His problem recently has been walks, and I believe that is a big reason why Tulane surrenders a lot of runs.

Tulane pitchers are fourth in the conference in walks with 161 free passes on the year. It feels like it is a lot of inconsistency from the Tulane pitchers, especially from guys like Will Clements, Blaise Wilcenski, who pitching coach Anthony Izzio loves to use for long relief stints.

A lot of the free passes are from trying to go outside to righties, which is a good approach especially in a ballpark like Turchin Stadium. Coach Izzio and Coach Uhlman might have figured something out when it comes to game three of a series, though. Sunday, they started Michael Lombardi, who has usually been their closer. I am a big fan of this. Being able to use an arm like Lombardi to start rubber matches, especially late season and into conference tournament time, could ultimately work out very well, I think.

If that's permanent, to fill some of the Lombardi bullpen innings, Tayler Montiel and Carter Benbrook will definitely get more chances to close games. Jacob Moore will get opportunities too, as Coach Izzio mentioned to me he loved the way Moore competed against UAB hitters.

The bullpen needs to step up, though, because I feel like there is some serious potential in there, especially from Wes Burton and Julius Ejike Charles to help fill out the middle innings. I really love the way Coach Izzio has built this pitching staff, and I feel it can compete with some of the best lineups. They will soon get that test, when they head to UTSA starting this Thursday.

Final thoughts:

I have been able to spend the last couple months covering this Tulane team, and I truly believe this team could be an NCAA tournament-bound team. The team has realized already that each series from here on out is important to set up good seeding for the AAC conference tournament, where they seek a third consecutive championship. This team has the talent, and the coaching is right there.

I believe as well this has been Coach Uhlman and staff's best job so far since he has taken over. Facing UTSA and ECU the next two weeks is going to be tough to win both series. But, if they could go and take one series and compete in all six games, it sets them up nicely for the rest of the way. I say this because if the seeding is in your favor when conference tournament comes around, anything can happen. We saw it with the 2023 Tulane team, as they went all the way and beat #2 seed Houston three times in the tournament, then #1 ECU in the championship to get the automatic bid.

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