Baseball Starts Conference Play This Weekend At Home Against Memphis

Baseball Starts Conference Play This Weekend At Home Against Memphis

Mar 19, 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 (11-11) starts American Conference play playing host to Memphis (5-14) this weekend from Friday - Sunday on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. The game times for the contests are 6:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 1 p.m.

Promotions
Friday: Rolladega Nights – themed t-shirt for the first 250 fans, Friday Night Bingo
Saturday: Riptide's Birthday Party
Sunday: Riptide Kids Club Day, Collectible Baseball Card Giveaway & post-game autographs from Jason Wachs, Tye Wood, James Agabedis, Michael Devenney, and Evan Burg

Media
The three games against Memphis will be broadcasted on ESPN +. The Voice of the Green Wave, Corey Gloor, will call the action on the Tulane Sports Network from Learfield on WRBH 88.3 FM/ Varsity Network on Friday - Sunday. Airtime for the radio/stream for the games is 15 minutes before first pitch.

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. He has started the first four Fridays this season with a 1-1 record, a 6.75 ERA in 20.0 innings thrown. He has struck out 26 while allowing 13 walks and 22 hits.

The Tigers are starting redshirt sophomore righty Will Howell. Howell is 1-3 on the year with a 5.48 ERA along with 18 strikeouts in 21.1 innings worked.

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 1-1 record to go along with a 3.75 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 24.0 innings thrown. He threw a complete game with one run allowed against Harvard (2/22) in earning the victory. This is his second Saturday start of the season although he was chosen to throw the middle game of the series on Sunday afternoon against TCU (3/8).

Memphis is going with graduate student left-handed pitcher David Case in the second game of the series on Saturday. Case is 1-4 on the campaign with 21 strikeouts in 21.1 innings thrown. This is his sixth start of the season. He sports a 6.75 ERA

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

Scouting Memphis
Memphis is 5-14 on the season and have lost two in a row and nine of the last 11 games after falling by scores of 12-7 and 25-14 in the final two games of last weekend's home series against Eastern Illinois.

James Smith IV was named the American Conference Player of the Week this week after going 9-for-16 with three home runs and 16 RBIs last week. He was also named the National Hitter of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

Shane Cox leads the offensive attack for Memphis with .382 batting average and 29 hits.

Smith is hitting .333 with five doubles, five home runs, 27 RBIs, and 44 total bases.

Freddy Rodriguez has walked 14 times and stolen 11 bases on the year.

Michael Gupton has knocked in 23 runs on his 21 hits this season plus leads the club with his six home runs.

Will Howell and David Case are tied for the team leading with 21.1 innings thrown each.

Case leads the club with his 21 strikeouts.

Jacob Dienes has been the most effective relief arm with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings thrown.

The program is under the guidance of former Tulane assistant and former Southeastern Louisiana head man Matt Riser. Riser is 370-303 in his collegiate head coaching career. and is in his third year leading the Tigers

Series History
These will be 128th-130th all-time meetings between the two schools. Tulane leads the all-time series by a 76-51 count since the first meeting in 1976. The Green Wave took two-of-three last May (5/9/25) in Memphis. Tulane won 3-2, 3-0 and then lost the final game of the series 15-6. Memphis won two of three the last time the two schools met in New Orleans in 2024.

First Conference Series
Tulane has won its first conference series in four of the last five years and is seven of the last eight seasons when a conference season was played* (The 2020 American Conference season was not played due to COVID-19 pandemic)

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 48 consecutive games dating back to the end of last season.

Who's Hot in the Last Five Games
Johnny Elliott is hitting .429 with three hits, a double, and an RBI.

Kaikea Harrison sports a .350 batting average with five runs, seven hits, three doubles, a home run, three RBIs, 13 total bases, and a .435 on-base percentage.

Tye Wood is hitting .333 with five hits, a double, four walks. three hit by pitches, and two RBIs.

Hugh Pinkney has a .308 batting average with four hits, a home run, two walks, and two RBIs.

Tanner Chun has five walks, two hit by pitches, three runs, four hits, and an on-base percentage of .458.

Sam Larson has thrown in two games with 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

Jake Toporek has appeared in three games and has struck out six in 4.0 innings on the mound while limiting opponents to a .214 batting average against.

Jude Abbadessa is 1-0 with seven strikeouts in six innings out of the bullpen.

LuisPablo Navarro has appeared in two games with six strikeouts in 4.1 innings plus a save.

Beau Sampson is unscored upon in his last three outings with four strikeouts.

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

Jason Wachs has reached base safely in all 22 games this season

Johnny Elliott has reached base safely in his last 10 games.

Nate Johnson is hitting .294 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in games he starts this year.

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

Tulane sports an 8-4 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, seven games at third, three games in right field, and four games as the designated hitter.

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

Nolan Nawrocki has the team's only success pinch hit opportunity on the year

After leading the American Conference last season with 131 doubles as team, Tulane is again among the leaders this season and are currently second in two-baggers with 49 in the first 22 games.

The Green Wave are ranked second in the conference in walks (120) and third in stolen bases (33).

The program's pitching is averaging an impressive 9.8 strikeouts per game to place fourth 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 11 games with double figure strikeout totals.

The program is second in shutouts (1) and fifth in ERA (4.79).

Of the 23 new players on the roster this season, 19 have already made their Tulane debuts following the first 22 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 (10) and walks (21). He is fourth in stolen bases (10) and ninth in doubles (7).

Jason Wachs ranks tied for third in the conference in doubles (8) and ninth in RBIs (23).

Jack Frankel leads complete games with one.

J.D. Rodriguez is third in wins (3) and tied for fifth in appearances along with Sam Larson and Jake Toporek (10) and sixth in strikeouts (31).

Jude Abbadessa leads in appearances (11).

Kaikea Harrison is tied for third doubles (8) and sixth in runs scored (25).

Tye Wood is second sacrifice flies (4).

Tom Vincent is fourth in saves (2).

Larson and LuisPablo Navarro are tied for 10th in saves (1).

Trey Cehajic and Frankel are tied for the lead in starts (5).

Lombardi and Tuft Selected for MLB Spring Breakout
Former Tulane pitcher Michael Lombardi and former Tulane catcher Colin Tuft were recently named to the Spring Breakout roster for the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles and both will participate in the MLB Spring Breakout games this season, the organizations announced.

The third annual MLB Spring Breakout is from March 19-22, 2026. The preseason spotlight showcases baseball's future stars as clubs assemble their top prospects to play in an exhibition against one another. The event spans four days and includes a total of 16 games.

Lombardi and the Royals will take on the Texas Rangers on March 20 in Surprise, Arizona at Surprise Stadium starting at 3 p.m. in the Cactus League. The game can be watched live on Rangers Sports Net, Amazon MLB FAST Channel, MLB.com, MLB.TV, and the MLB app. Former Sluggerbird Colin Tuft Named To The 2026 Spring Breakout Roster For The Baltimore Orioles

Notables From Northwestern State Game - 3/18
Tulane improved the team's all-time record to 21-4 against Northwestern State with the 2-0 victory.

The 10 strikeouts recorded by the Tulane pitching staff was the 11th time the program has reached double figures in strikeouts this season.

Over the last five games, Tulane's relief pitchers have thrown 35.1 innings with just six runs allowed while striking out 38.

LuisPablo Navarro is the third different Tulane player to record a save this season following Sam Larson (1) and Tom Vincent (2).

The 2-0 shutout was the first for Tulane since blanking Memphis last season (5/10/25) by a 3-0 margin.

Tulane is now 2-0 on Wednesdays this season.

The win improved Tulane to 310-167 all-time against Southland Conference opponents

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 wraps up the homestand with a non-conference game against Grambling on Wednesday, March 25, starting at 6:30 p.m.

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