Baseball Heads To Texas To Take On No. 21 / No. 17 TCU This Weekend

Friday, March 6

Fort Worth, TX

6 p.m.

Tulane University

Texas Christian

Photo by: Henry Haber

Baseball Heads To Texas To Take On No. 21 / No. 17 TCU This Weekend

Mar 5, 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 (8-5) continues the road swing and travels to Fort Worth, Texas to take on No. 21 (C) /No. 17 (D1) TCU (7-5) for a three-game set from March 6-8. Games times are 6 p.m., 4 p.m., and 1 p.m. Tulane is in a stretch of playing five straight games away from Greer Field at Turchin Stadium (four road, one neutral site). The team will also play a ranked opponent in each of the next four games.

Media
The three games against TCU will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Kyle Youmans will call the action on the Tulane Sports Network from Learfield on 88.3 WRBH-FM/Varsity Network this weekend. Airtime for the radio/stream for each game 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 three Fridays this season with a 1-0 record, a 3.38 ERA in 13.1 innings thrown. He has struck out 20 while allowing eight walks and eight hits.

The Horned Frogs are slated to start sophomore left-handed pitcher Mason Brassfield. Brassfield is 1-1 on the year with 13 strikeouts in 9.2 innings worked.

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. This will be his fourth Saturday start of the season. He has thrown 7.1 innings with 14 strikeouts.

TCU starts redshirt freshman right-hander Lance Davis on Saturday. Davis is also making his third Saturday start. He is 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA in a team-leading 10.1 innings on the mound.

On Sunday, the Green Wave will start sophomore right-handed pitcher Jack 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. Frankel has been the team's best starting pitcher in the early going with a 1-0 record to go along with a 2.25 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 16.0 innings thrown. He threw a complete game with one run allowed against Harvard (2/22) in earning the victory.

TCU is slated to start freshman left-handed pitcher Uli Fernsler. Fernsler is making his third start of the year. He is 1-0 with three strikeouts in five innings.

Scouting TCU
The ranked Horned Frogs are 7-5 on the year against a very challenging schedule that has including three games against UCLA and single games against Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

TCU defeated Abilene Christian in the midweek by a 7-6 score after being down 6-0 after four innings.

Sawyer Strosnider is leading the attack with a .361 batting average, 21 runs, 13 hits, 16 walks, and 25 total bases.

Chase Brunson sports a .310 batting average with a pair of home runs and 13 RBIs.

Nolan Traeger leads the club with his 17 RBIs.

Reliever Walter Quinn has been the top pitcher with a 2-0 record, a 0.93 ERA, a save, and 16 strikeouts in 9.2 innings worked.

The program is coached by Kirk Saarloos. Saarloos is in his fifth year leading the Horned Frogs. He has an overall record of 161-92.

Series History
TCU leads the all-time series by a slim 7-6 count. The first meeting was in 1989 with Tulane losing both games by scores of 3-2 and 4-3. The last time that schools met was in 2008 with Tulane winning 5-3.

Against the Big 12
Tulane is 161-137 all-time against current members of the Big 12 Conference with the majority of those games coming against former American Conference members UCF (30-29), Cincinnati (48-23) and Houston (46-57) when they were still part of the league. The last time that Tulane played a current Big 12 member that was representing the conference came against West Virginia in 2017 with the Green Wave winning two of the three contests at home.

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 39 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 has seven RBIs

Matthias Haas sports a .294 batting average with five hits, two doubles, six RBIs and 10 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, including one start, with five strikeouts in four innings thrown.

J.D. Rodriguez has appeared in three games with eight strikeouts in 6.2 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 13 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, four 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 36 in the first 13 games.

The program's pitching is averaging an impressive 10.2 strikeouts per game to place third 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 13 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 (6). He is second in walks (13) and stolen bases (8). He, Kaikea Harrison and Jason Wachs are tied for fourth with five doubles.

Wachs leads the league with 19 RBIs.

Jack Frankel leads in complete games with one.

J.D. Rodriguez is second in wins (2).

Jude Abbadessa, Rodriguez, and Sam Larson are tied for second in appearances (6).

Harrison is second in the league in runs scored (17) and seventh in hits (18)

Tye Wood is placed fourth in the stolen bases (5) and fifth in runs scored (16).

Tom Vincent and Larson are third in saves (1).

Trey Cehajic and Rodriguez are tied for fourth in strikeouts (20).

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

Harrison Named to the 2026 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch List
Kaikea Harrison has been named to the 2026 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch List, the College Baseball Foundation announced on Wednesday.

Harrison is hitting .321 this season with 17 runs, 18 hits, four doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs, 28 total bases, a .518 slugging percentage, six walks, a .391 on-base percentage, and three stolen bases.

The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.

Notables From Nicholls Game - 3/3
Kaikea Harrison had a pair of hits including a three-run home run. The home run was his second of the season, third during his time at Tulane and fourth of his career.

The loss ended an eight-game winning streak over the Colonels as the last loss came during the 2019 season at home (5/7/19) by a 5-3 margin.

The last time Tulane lost to the Colonels in Thibodaux dates back to the 2016 season (3/15/16) by a 2-1 score.

The loss was the first time that Coach Uhlman had lost to Nicholls as he had been 6-0.

The Green Wave are now 69-28 all-time against Nicholls and 308-168 all-time against current Southland Conference opponents.

Freshman Bryson Ayala made the first start of his career against the Colonels, second base, in this year's matchup and picked up his first career hit, a double.

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
Next, Tulane stays on the road and plays a neutral site game against No. 4 (D1/Coaches) Mississippi State (11-1) on Tuesday, March 10, starting at 6:05 p.m. in Biloxi, Mississippi at Kessler Federal Stadium.

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