Baseball Opens 2026 Campaign In California

Friday, February 13

Los Angeles, CA

8 p.m.

Tulane University

LMU

Feb 12, 2026 | Baseball

FRIDAY: WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
SATURDAY: WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
SUNDAY: WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS

TULANE GAME NOTES

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane baseball team starts the 2026 season on the road in Los Angeles as the program takes on Loyola Marymount at Page Stadium from Feb. 13-15. The two teams start at 8 p.m. CT on Friday night, Feb. 13, before an early evening first pitch on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 5 p.m. CT and a mid-afternoon start on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. CT.

Media
The LMU series will be streamed on ESPN+. Kevin Wyart will call all the action on the Tulane Sports Network from Learfield on 88.3 WRBH/Varsity Network. Airtime for radio is 15 minutes before first pitch each game.

Weekend Pitching Matchups
The Green Wave will start graduate student Trey Cehajic on Friday. The right hander went 5-2 last year in his second year as a member of the Green Wave. He sported an ERA of 4.89 with 57 strikeouts in 57 innings worked.

The Lions will counter with sophomore righty, Zach Bender, on Friday. The Las Vegas, Nevada native went 1-1 last season with a 3.99 ERA in 29.1 innings. He posted 26 strikeouts, while limiting opponents to a .248 batting average against.

Tulane will start lefty Beau Sampson on Saturday. The junior transfer from St. George, Utah played at the University of Oklahoma last season where he appeared in 13 games with a 1-0 record and 10 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched out of the bullpen.

LMU will send Jonah Johnson to the hill for the second game. The Colorado Springs, Colorado native went 5-2 last season with a 5.14 ERA in 35 innings worked. He also struck out 42 and limited opponents to a .221 batting average against.

On Sunday, the Green Wave will start sophomore right-handed pitcher Jake Frankel. Frankel hails from Plano, Texas and is in his first year with the program...Last season, while at Liberty, he went 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA. He also struck out 32 in 45 innings pitched.

LMU's Sunday starter is slated to be righty Avery Laine. Laine is another returning pitcher for Loyola Marymount. He went 5-1 last season with a 4.81 ERA plus 58 strikeouts in 67.1 innings pitched.

Scouting Loyola Marymount
Loyola Marymount went 29-29 last season under the direction of Donegal Fergus. Fergus is beginning his third year in charge of the program and sports a combined record of 53-59. The team's top returning hitter is senior Zion Williams. Williams hit .310 in 2025 with 35 runs, 57 hits, 13 doubles, six home runs, 39 RBIs, 88 total bases and 21 stolen bases. The team's top returning pitcher is junior Cole Stuckey. Stuckey won a pair of games with 2.18 ERA plus 23 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched with three saves.

Series History
Tulane leads the all-time series with Loyola Marymount by a 4-2 count after taking two of the three games last season in New Orleans from Feb. 21-22. This will be the first time that Tulane has faced the Lions in Los Angeles as the previous six games have all been played in New Orleans beginning with the 2007 start of the series.

Against the West Coast Conference
Tulane is 24-24 all-time against current schools from the West Coast Conference. The program's first contest against a current WCC team came in 1978 against Santa Clara. The team's last meeting with a WCC team was against Pepperdine last season from February 28-March 2. Tulane lost a pair of one-run games to start the series before securing a 7-4 victory in the final game.

Coming In On A Streak
Sophomore outfielder Jason Wachs ended the 2025 season on a 23-game hitting streak and having reached base safely in each of the last 26 games of the season. In Wachs' 23-game hitting streak, he is hitting .379 (33-for-87) with 22 runs, 23 hits, 11 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 16 RBIs.

Green Wave Chosen For Fourth and Has Two Named Preseason All-Conference
In a vote of the league's coaches, Tulane was picked for fourth and had two players selected as American Preseason All-Conference. The Green Wave were chosen for fourth overall with 57 points. The team also saw outfielder Jason Wachs and designated hitter Matthias Haas chosen as Preseason American All-Conference.

The 2026 Schedule
The Green Wave will host 27 games on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, along with one neutral-site game in Mississippi and 28 road contests in 2026. Tulane will compete across seven states, including matchups in California, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, Florida, and North Carolina. Notable opponents include seven teams that participated in the 2025 NCAA Tournament: Southern Miss (2 games), UTSA (3), Creighton (3), East Carolina (3), TCU (3), Mississippi State (1), UCLA (1), and LSU (1).

The 2026 Schedule - Part Two
Tulane is playing games against five teams this season that are ranked in the USA Today's Preseason Coaches' Poll in No. 1 LSU, No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 10 TCU, and No. 20 Southern Miss.

Uncommon Road Start To Season
Tulane's start on the road this season is the first for the program since 2023 and only the 11th time since 1979 the program has not started the season with games in New Orleans (1979, 1980, 1982, 1993, 2002, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2023, and 2026)

A Brotherly Connection
Tulane has a pair of brothers on the 2026 roster in sophomore infielder Nate Johnson and graduate student infielder Jake Johnson. The two are Tulane's first set of brothers on a team since 2017 when twins Paul Gozzo, a catcher, and Sal Gozzo, an infielder, were playing for the Green Wave. The 2016 team also had brothers on the squad in Ross Massey, a left-handed pitcher, and Alex Massey, a right-handed pitcher.

Who is Back?
The Green Wave return 14 players from the 2025 squad that a made a run to the 2025 American Championship Game for the third straight season this season in James Agabedis (infielder), Kaikea Harrison (infielder), Matthias Haas (infielder/outfielder), Tanner Chun (outfielder), Julius Ejike-Charles (left-handed pitcher/outfielder), Jason Wachs (outfielder), Hugh Pinkney (catcher), J.D. Rodriguez (right-handed pitcher), Nate Johnson (infielder), Will Clements (right-handed pitcher), Michael Devenney (right-handed pitcher), Jacob Moore (right-handed pitcher), Blaise Wilcenski (right-handed pitcher), and Trey Cehajic (right-handed pitcher)

Inside the Numbers of the Returners
The team's 14 returning players accounted for 52.7 percent of the runs (204/387), 53 percent of the hits (287/541), 55 percent of the doubles (72/131), 58 percent of the triples (7/12), 45 percent of the home runs (23/51), 49 percent of the RBIs (178/360), 52 percent of the total bases (442/849) and 55 percent of the walks (159/287). On the mound, the club returns 48.4 percent of the wins (16/33), 53 percent of the game started (31/58), 43 percent of the innings (212/532) and 34 percent of the strikeouts (308/547).

Newcomers
Tulane added 23 new players to the roster this year. The list includes seven graduate students (Tye Wood, Brett Rowell, Trent Liolios, Jack Johnson, Jake Toporek, Tom Vincent and Aidan Rath), a senior (Nolan Nawrocki), seven juniors (Jude Abbadessa, Sam Larson, Caden Tarango, Jack Brafa, Beau Sampson, Owen Geiss, and Max Maxinter), four sophomores (AJ Groeneveld, Jack Frankel, Johnny Elliott, and LuisPablo Navarro) and four true freshmen (Bryson Ayala, Cole Berge, Evan Burg, and Matthew Major).

The 2025 Season Quick Hitters
Tulane went 33-25 last season and had five American All-Conference selections on the year in Michael Lombardi (P – 1st), Connor Rasmussen (2B – 1st), Gavin Schulz (DH – 2nd), Jason Wachs (All-Freshman) and Tanner Chun (All-Freshman). The five selections are tied with the 2024 team for the most for the program since 2016 (seven).
The team also had three chosen for the league's All-Tournament Team in Schulz, Tayler Montiel and Theo Bryant IV plus a pair on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) All-State Team in Lombardi and Rasmussen.

Additionally, the program had three players selected in the 2025 MLB Draft in Lombardi (Kansas City Royals – 2nd round), Montiel (Arizona Diamondbacks – 12th round), and Rasmussen (Kansas City Royals – 15th round).

2025 Fun Stat Facts
Jason Wachs was ninth in the conference in batting average (.335) and on-base percentage (.457). Wachs and Tanner Chun were tied for 10th in the league in triples (2). Matthias Haas ranked second in the conference in doubles (21) and 26th in batting average (.303). Kaikea Harrison was tied for the conference lead in sacrifice bunts (8) and 38th in batting average (.283). Trey Cehajic and Blaise Wilcenski were tied for 10th in the league in wins (5).

Up Next
Next, Tulane takes on No. 2 nationally ranked UCLA in the team's final game in the state of California on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. CT at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

DOWNLOAD THE APP
Download the official mobile app of Tulane Athletics. Now, you can stay in touch with the Green Wave anytime and anywhere on your Android or iOS mobile device.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For behind-the-scenes coverage, follow Tulane baseball (@GreenWaveBSB) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

TICKETS
Tickets for the basketball campaigns and the upcoming baseball season can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

GREEN WAVE CLUB
Giving to the Green Wave Club provides Tulane Athletics with the resources student‑athletes need to excel in competition and in the classroom. Your support directly improves the lives of current and future Green Wave student‑athletes and enhances Tulane's competitiveness in intercollegiate athletics. Make a gift today by calling (504) 865‑5356, emailing green waveclub@tulane.edu, or visiting GreenWaveClub.com.

---TulaneGreenWave.com---