Baseball Starts Road Trip Against Nicholls on Tuesdasy

Tuesday, March 3

Thibodaux, LA

6 p.m.

Tulane University

Nicholls

Baseball Starts Road Trip Against Nicholls on Tuesdasy

Mar 2, 2026 | Baseball

TUESDAY: WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS

TULANE GAME NOTES

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane baseball team (8-4), after another weekend series victory, gets back on the road for the first of five straight games (four road, one neutral) away from Greer Field at Turchin Stadium this week with a contest against Nicholls (5-8) starting at 6 p.m. at Ray E. Didier Field on Tuesday.

Media
The matchup against Nicholls 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 the Varsity Network. Airtime for the stream of the game is 15 minutes before first pitch.

Pitching Matchups
The Green Wave starts graduate student left-handed pitcher Jake Toporek. Toporek has yet to receive a decision in four games out of the bullpen this season. He has struck out eight in 7.1 innings thrown with a 1.23 ERA while limiting opponents to a .250 batting average against. The Wagner University transfer went 8-1 last season with a 3.49 ERA.

Nicholls is slated to go with fellow lefty Shaydon Benson. Benson is 0-1 on the year. He will be making his fourth appearance of the season and his second start. Benson has struck out six in 5.2 innings thrown but has also walked six.

Scouting Nicholls
The Colonels have won five of the last seven games after dropping two of three in a conference matchup with McNeese State over the weekend.

Caston Thompson has led the offensive attack this season with his .373 batting average, nine runs, 19 hits, five doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs.

Keegan Giger has 17 hits and 11 RBIs.

Owen Schenaydre appeared in four games with a 1.93 ERA in 4.2 innings worked.

Dawson Richard is 1-0 with 14 strikeouts in 11.1 innings thrown.

The program went 17-32 last season. The program is coached by Brent Haring. Haring is in his second year with the Colonels

Series History
Tulane leads the all-time series with Nicholls 69-27. The Green Wave defeated the Colonels in all three matchups last year by 13-3 , 9-5 and 9-4 scores.

Against the Southland Conference
The road game against Nicholls is the second of seven games against a Southland Conference opponent this season for Tulane. The program went 5-4 against Southland Conference (SLC) opponents last season and started this year's game against SLC opponents with an 11-3 loss to UNO last week, Feb. 24. The school's all-time mark is 308-167 against current schools in the SLC.

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

Who's Hot in the Last Five Games
Nate Johnson is hitting .750 with six hits, a triple, a home run, seven RBIs, a 1.375 slugging percentage, and 11 total bases.

Jason Wachs is hitting .353 with six hits, two doubles, six RBIs, and three walks.

Matthias Haas sports a .333 batting average with six hits, three doubles, six RBIs and 12 total bases.

Jack Brafa pitched in two games with a start on the mound with five strikeouts in five innings pitched.

Trey Cehajic is 1-0 with 11 strikeouts and one hit allowed in seven innings pitched.

Jake Toporek has appeared in a pair of games out of the bullpen while throwing five innings with seven strikeouts.

JD Rodriguez has appeared in two games with six strikeouts in five innings pitched.

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

Jason Wachs and Tye Wood have reached base safely in all 12 games this season.

Tulane is 6-1 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 three games at first, three games at third, three games in right field and three games as the designated hitter.

After leading the American Conference last season with 131 doubles as team, Tulane is again leading the league in two-baggers with 34 in the first 12 games.

The program's pitching is averaging an impressive 10.2 strikeouts per game to place second in the American Conference. Tulane ranked second in the league in strikeouts a year ago with an average of 9.8 per contest.

Of the 23 new players on the roster this season, 19 have already made their Tulane debuts following the first 12 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 walks with 13 and hit by pitches with five. He is second in stolen bases with seven. He and Jason Wachs are tied for fourth in the league with five doubles.

Wachs is placed second in the league with 17 RBIs.

Jack Frankel leads the league in complete games with one.

J.D. Rodriguez is the league leader in wins with two.

Jude Abbadessa is second in the conference in appearances (6).

Sam Larson and Rodriguez are fifth in the league in appearances (5).

Kaikea Harrison and Tye Wood are tied for fifth in the league in runs scored (15).

Tom Vincent and Larson are tied for the league lead in saves (1).

Trey Cehajic is third in the league in strikeouts (20).

Harrison is the fifth-toughest batter to strike out this season (12.8).

AJ Groeneveld and Nate Johnson are tied for the lead in triple (1).

Cehajic, Beau Sampson and Frankel are tied for the conference lead in starts (3).

Notables From EKU Series - 2/27 - 3/1
Tulane was able to take the third weekend series of the season with a 5-4 victory on Friday and an 11-3 win on Sunday against Eastern Kentucky

The wins improved Tulane to 18-5 all-time against current teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The games against EKU were the first for the program since 1986.

Trey Cehajic had a career-game in earning the 5-4 victory over EKU on Friday with seven innings pitched, 11 strikeouts, one hit and no runs allowed.

Kaikea Harrison hit his first home run of the season, second at Tulane and third of his career in the first game against the Colonels (2/27) to leadoff the contest.

Matthias Haas tied his career high with four RBIs in the third game against EKU (3/1). He previously had four RBIs against Texas Southern (4/2/24) and Omaha (2/15/25).

The two victories improved Tulane to 5-1 in home games this season.

Cehajic Honored By the American
Trey Cehajic was named the American Conference's Weekly Pitcher of the Week following the third week of the season (3/2/26).

Cehajic, a graduate student from Shreveport, Louisiana, had a career day in earning the 5-4 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Friday, Feb. 27. He threw 7.0 innings with one hit and no runs allowed while striking out 11. Both his innings pitched and his strikeout totals are career highs. Cehajic's seven innings are also tied for the longest outing by a Tulane starting pitcher this season along with Jack Frankel. Additionally, the seven innings thrown are also tied for the longest outing by a pitcher in the American Conference this season. Of the 11 strikeouts, nine came looking. His 11 strikeouts were the most for any pitcher in the American Conference this season. Cehajic's 11 strikeouts are also the most for a Tulane pitcher since Michael Lombardi also struck out 11 against Florida Atlantic in the first round of the 2025 American Conference Baseball Championships.

He is the first Tulane pitcher to take home the weekly honor since Michael Lombardi (4/7/25)

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 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
Tulane keeps the road trip going and takes on No. 21 / No. 17 TCU from March 6-8 in Fort Worth, Texas. Game times are 6 p.m., 4 p.m. and 1 p.m.

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