Baseball Starts Nine-Game Homestand With Series Against Creighton This Weekend

Friday, March 13

New Orleans, LA

6:30 p.m.

Tulane University

Creighton

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Baseball Starts Nine-Game Homestand With Series Against Creighton This Weekend

Mar 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 (9-8), after five straight games away from home, returns to host Creighton (5-8) for a three-game set from March 13-16 on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Games times are slated for 6:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 12 p.m.

Promotions
Friday: Free Bobblehead to the first 250 fans, Friday Night Bingo
Saturday: Wave Rider Day
Sunday: Bark in the Park- a free chew toy for the first 100 fans, Riptide Kids Club Day, Collectible Baseball Card Giveaway & post-game autographs from Trent Liolios, Jacob Moore, Beau Sampson, Jack Brafa, Nate Johnson, and J.D. Rodriguez

This Weekend Parking Note
As a reminder to fans, the 2026 New Orleans Book Festival is this weekend. For Saturday's 2 p.m. baseball game versus Creighton, only the top floor of Diboll Garage will be available for pre-purchased passes. No day-of-game, drive-up option will be available. The lower floors of the garage will be reserved for guests of BookFest.

The parking process for games on Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.) will operate normally where access can be gained by presenting a pre-purchased pass or utilizing the day-of, drive-up pay option ($10).

Media
The games against Creighton will be broadcasted on the ESPN +. Either Corey Gloor or Paul Boron will call the action on the Tulane Sports Network from Learfield on 88.3 WRBH -FM/Varsity Network over the weekend. Airtime for the radio/stream for the games is 15 minutes before first pitch.

Pitching Matchup
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. He has started the first four Fridays this season with a 1-1 record, a 4.19 ERA in 19.1 innings thrown. He has struck out 25 while allowing 11 walks and 17 hits.

The Bluejays are starting junior righty Jack Pineau in the first game of the series. Pineau was named the Big East Pitcher of the Week on Monday. It was the second time he was honored weekly by the conference this season. This is his fifth start of the campaign. He is 2-0 with 23 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched. He is limiting opponents to a .221 batting average against.

Tulane will start sophomore right-handed pitcher Jack Frankel on Saturday. 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. Frankel has been the team's best starting pitcher in the early going with a 1-0 record to go along with a 3.54 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 20.1 innings thrown. He threw a complete game with one run allowed against Harvard (2/22) in earning the victory. This is his first Saturday start of the season although he was chosen to throw the middle game of the series on Sunday afternoon last time out against TCU.

Creighton is starting senior righty Ian Koosman in the second game of the series. This is Koosman's six appearance and third start of the season. He is 0-1 with an 8.56 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 13.2 innings thrown.

The Sunday starter for Tulane is to be determined depending on the results and relief pitcher usage through the first two games of the series.

Creighton is slated to start redshirt sophomore lefty Eli Nissen in the series finale. Nissen is starting his fifth game of the year. He has thrown 14.2 innings with 10 strikeouts on the year while limiting opponents to a .293 batting average against.
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Scouting Creighton
The Bluejays won two of three games over the weekend at home against Gonzaga. The program lost to LSU on the road on Tuesday by an 8-4 score. Creighton held a 4-1 lead after three innings, but then saw the Tigers score the final seven runs of the game.

Creighton was predicted to finish second in the BIG EAST Conference's Coaches Poll this season after going 43-16 and winning both the regular season and the BIG EAST Tournament Championship last season.

Ben North has led the team with his 19 hits, two triples and .380 batting average.

Nate McHugh sports a .333 batting average with 10 runs, 18 hits, two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Connor Capece leads the club with 12 RBIs.

Shea Wendt has been the top reliever with a 1.08 ERA in six appearances. He has struck out 12 in 8.1 innings worked.

Jack Pineau has been the top starter with a 2-0 record with 23 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched.

The program is coached by Mark Kingston. Kingston is in his first year in charge of the Bluejays but he has previously been the head coach at South Carolina (2018-24), South Florida (2015-17), and Illinois State (2010-14). He also previously was an Assistant Coach at Tulane where he assisted the 2005 team make a run to the College World Series.

The team's pitching coach Billy Mohl also has a few previous Tulane connections as a former member of the program as both a player and a coach. As a coach he assisted the team to 107 victories in three seasons under Rick Jones.

In four seasons in uniform for the Green Wave, Mohl set the school single-season and career record for fewest walks-per-nine-inning average with marks of 1.27 (in 2003) and 1.67, respectively. The right-hander went 9-0 as a senior, becoming just the second regular starter in Tulane history to go undefeated. Mohl posted a career record of 25-7 at Tulane while striking out 224 batters and issuing just 57 walks over 308.0 IP.

In the fall of 2024, Mohl was inducted into the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame.

Series History
Tulane leads the all-time series with Creighton 2-1 in the previous three-game series played in 2015 in New Orleans. Tulane won the first game 8-2 and the last game 3-2, but fell in the middle game 7-2.

Against the BIG EAST
Tulane is 28-15 all-time against current schools in the BIG EAST Conference. The Green Wave's first game against a current BIG EAST opponent was in 1976 against Xavier. The last time Tulane faced a BIG EAST opponent also was against Xavier as Tulane took two of three last season at home. (3/14-16/25).

Coming In On A Streak
Jason Wachs, despite seeing his hitting streak snapped at 23 games following the opening game of the season against LMU, has still now reached base safely in 43 consecutive games dating back to the end of last season.

Who's Hot in the Last Five Games
Jason Wachs sports a .471 batting average with four runs, eight hits, three doubles, six RBIs, and four walks.

Hugh Pinkney is hitting .444 with four hits.

Nolan Nawrocki has totaled four hits and four RBIs.

Kaikea Harrison has five hits, five runs scored and two stolen bases.

Nate Johnson has four RBIs.

Matthias Haas has four hits and a stolen base.

Jake Toporek has thrown 5.2 innings with five strikeouts.

Blaise Wilcenski has appeared in three games and thrown five innings with a 1.80 ERA.

J.D. Rodriguez has appeared in three games and is 1-0 with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings thrown.

Trends
Dating back to the end of last season, three of last four hits that James Agabedis III has are home runs.

Jason Wachs has reached base safely in all 17 games this season

Matthias Haas has reached base in each of the last 13 games.

Johnny Elliott has reached base safely in his last eight games.

Nate Johnson is hitting .412 with 11 RBIs in games he starts this year.

Kaikea Harrison leads the team with six multiple run scored games.

Tulane sports a 7-2 record this year in games that Hugh Pinkney starts behind the plate.

The program is also 3-0 in games that Matthias Haas starts as the designated hitter.

Haas has started at four different positions this season with five games at first, six games at third, three games in right field and three games as the designated hitter.

Tye Wood leads the club with five two-out RBIs.

Tulane hasn't won more than three in a row nor lost more than two in a row all season long through the first 17 games of the year.

After leading the American Conference last season with 131 doubles as team, Tulane is again leading the league in two-baggers with 41 in the first 17 games.

The program's pitching is averaging an impressive 9.8 strikeouts per game to place fifth in the American Conference. Tulane ranked second in the league in strikeouts a year ago with an average of 9.8 per contest.

The Tulane pitching staff has recorded seven games with double figure strikeout total.

Of the 23 new players on the roster this season, 19 have already made their Tulane debuts following the first 17 games of the season. The only newbies that haven't appeared in a game yet this season are RHP Max Mazinter, OF Cole Berge, OF/3B Matthew Major, and RHP Owen Geiss.

Individual Conference Leaders
Tanner Chun leads the American Conference in hit by pitches (8). He is third in walks (16) and stolen bases (9).

Jason Wachs leads the conference in RBIs (23) and doubles (8). He is seventh in hits (23)

Jack Frankel leads complete games with one.

J.D. Rodriguez is second in wins (3) and sixth in strikeouts (26).

Jude Abbadessa and Rodriguez are tied for third in appearances (8).

Kaikea Harrison is seventh in the league in runs scored (20).

Tye Wood is fifth in sacrifice flies (3).

Tom Vincent is third in the conference in saves (2).

Trey Cehajic is eighth in strikeouts (25).

Cehajic, Beau Sampson and Frankel are tied for the lead in starts (4).

Notable From Game Against Mississippi State - 3/10
The loss to the No. 3 ranked Bulldogs was the fourth game the program has lost to a ranked opponent this season.

Tulane fell to 0-4 on Tuesdays this season.

The regular season neutral site game against the Bulldogs was the first for the program since the 2023 when the program took on and defeated Sacramento State by a 14-6 score at The Southern California College Baseball Classic (3/5)

The game marked the seventh time this season that Tulane's pitching staff has reached double digits in strikeouts (14).

Tulane is now 33-78 all-time against Mississippi State.

The program falls to 158-288 all-time against SEC opponents.

Frankel Named to the 2026 College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year Watch List
Jack Frankel has been named to the 2026 National Pitcher of the Year Watch List, the College Baseball Foundation announced on Wednesday, March 11.

Frankel is 1-0 with a 3.54 ERA in four starts this season with one complete game. He has thrown 20.1 innings with 10 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .267 batting average against. He was also named to the American Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 23.

The National Pitcher of the Year Award was first awarded in 2009.

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 hosts 27 games at 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
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 keeps the homestand going and hosts state rivals UNO (March 17) and Northwestern State (March 18) in back-to-back midweeks before the start of conference play. Both the UNO and Northwestern State games begin at 6:30 p.m. on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

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