Baseball Travels to North Carolina for Weekend Conference Set Against Charlotte

Baseball Travels to North Carolina for Weekend Conference Set Against Charlotte

Apr 30, 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 (23-23, 8-10 American) gets back into conference play and travels to North Carolina to take on Charlotte (20-24,5-13 American) from Friday-Sunday, May 1-3, at Hayes Stadium. Game times are 5 p.m. (CT), 3 p.m. (CT), and 12 p.m. (CT).

Media
The games against Charlotte will be broadcasted on ESPN+ on Tuesday. 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. Airtime for the radio/stream for the games is 15 minutes before first pitch.

Pitching Matchup
The Green Wave will start senior J.D. Rodriguez in the opening game. This is his 17th appearance and 10th game started although this is his first Friday start of the year as he had previously been the Sunday starter since the start of conference play (six total starts). On the year, Rodriguez is 5-0 with a 3.78 ERA in a team-high 47.2 innings worked. He is limiting opponents to a .249 batting average against.

The 49ers are expected to start senior right Ryan Combs on Friday. He is 1-2 on the season with 32 strikeouts in 22.1 innings thrown. He has a 6.75 ERA. This is his 18th game and fourth start of the season.

The Green Wave are slated to start graduate student left-handed pitcher Jake Toporek on Saturday. Toporek is 1-4 on the year with a 5.00 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 36.0 innings worked. He is limiting opponents to a .276 batting average. This is his 17th appearance and seventh start of the season including his sixth conference start. He started and threw 5.1 scoreless innings against Wichita State (4/2). The Wagner University transfer went 8-1 last season with a 3.49 ERA.

Charlotte plans on starting redshirt sophomore righty Eddie Copper on Saturday. Copper is 3-3 on the year with 5.08 ERA. This is his 12th appearance and start. He has struck out 45 in 44.1 innings thrown while limiting opponents to a .248 batting average against.

The Tulane and Charlotte Sunday starters are to be determined depending on the results and relief pitcher usage through the first two games of the series.

Scouting Charlotte
The 49ers have lost four of the team's last five games and are 2-14 in the last 16 games.

The program lost a road 12-2 contest to Liberty on Tuesday, April 28.

Charlotte has a team batting average of .295 plus 48 home runs, 76 doubles, seven triples, and 674 total bases.

Todd Hudson leads the team with his .335 batting average to go along with 32 runs, 52 hits, seven home runs, and 30 RBIs.

Cody Gunderson sports a .320 batting average on his 56 hits including 14 doubles, eight home runs, 28 RBIs, 94 total bases, and .537 slugging percentage.

Alec DeMartino is hitting .316 with 49 hits, 13 doubles, six home runs, 32 RBIs and 30 walks.

Dylan Koontz leads the team with his 10 home runs, 41 RBI, and 14 hit by pitches.

The pitching staff has been led by reliever Adam Stanton. Stanton is 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA and two saves in 46.1 innings worked.

Joseph Taylor has also pitched well out of the bullpen with four wins and 50 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched in 20 games.

Robert Woodard coaches the program. Woodard is in his seventh year with the 49ers. He has a record of 201-159 with the program.

Series History
These will be the 62nd - 64th meetings against each other all-time. Tulane leads the all-time series by a 34-27 count since the first meeting 1992. Last season, Charlotte won all three games over Tulane by scores of 5-0, 12-1 (7) and 20-16 in New Orleans. The 2024 regular season meetings in Charlotte (5-16/27/24) when the Green Wave won two-of-three was the first time the teams met since 2014 when both schools were CUSA rivals. Last year's meetings in New Orleans was the first time that the teams played at Turchin Stadium since 2002.

Long Streak Over, New One Loading
Jason Wachs saw his recent 10-game on-base streak end against Southern Miss (4/28). The 10-game streak followed his earlier 60-game on-base streak that ended on Friday, April 10, against ECU after going 0-1 and only reaching base on a catcher's interference in the fourth inning. He did drive in a pair of runs though with a ground out and a sacrifice fly. The 60-game streak dated back to the end of last season. Wachs then promptly started a new streak and reached base in each of the next 10 games (4/11-4/26) before going 0-for-4 with an RBI against Southern Miss. He has successfully been on base safely in 70 of his last 72 games played.

Who's Hot in the Last Five Games
Matthias Haas is hitting .375 with six hits, a home run, and three RBIs.

Nate Johnson sports a .357 batting average with three runs, five hits, two doubles, and a triple.

Jason Wachs is hitting .350 with three runs, seven hits, three doubles, a home run, four RBIs, 13 total bases, .650 slugging percentage, and two walks.

James Agabedis has five hits, four runs scored, a double, a triple, a home run, a .647 slugging percentage, and seven RBIs

Tye Wood is hitting .318 with two runs, seven hits, three doubles, 10 total bases, and a .455 slugging percentage.

Kaikea Harrison has scored three runs and driven in four with three hits, and four walks.

Sam Larson has appeared in three games and is 1-0 with 4.1 scoreless innings and a save.

Tom Vincent has pitched in three games with two strikeouts in four innings thrown along with a win and a save.

Trends
Dating back to the end of last season, 10 of the last 20 hits that James Agabedis has have gone for extra bases with seven home runs, two doubles, and a triple.

Agabedis also has four multi-hit games in his last eight starts and nine games. In that time, he has 12 hits, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs, 22 total bases, and five walks.

Tulane's pitching staff has yet to allow a triple this season in 46 games. The last time the Green Wave surrendered a triple was the second game of the series against Florida Atlantic last season when the lead-off batter, Marshall Lipsey, hit a three-bagger to start the game (5/2/25). It has been 58 games (the final 12 last year and the first 46 this year) since the last triple was allowed. Those 58 games have accounted for 548 innings since Tulane last surrendered a triple. Tulane has the longest current streak in the nation as the top teams ahead of the program in the category in Auburn (61 games) and Georgia Tech (53 games) both allowed a triple three weekends ago.

Tanner Chun drew at least one walk in nine straight games (a total of 13 walks in that time) from March 15 – March 28. His nine-game walk streak was tied with Brady Hebert (April 2024) for the longest by a Tulane player the last eight seasons and tied for the longest by an American Conference player since Cincinnati's Josh Hegemann from March – April 2023.

Jason Wachs has reached base safely in 44 of the team's 46 games this season.

Nate Johnson is hitting .288 with three home runs and 27 RBIs in the games he starts this year.

Kaikea Harrison leads the team with 12 multiple run scored games.

Tulane sports an 18-11 record this year in games that Hugh Pinkney starts behind the plate.

The program is also 11-7 in games that James Agabedis starts as the third baseman.

Matthias Haas has started at four different positions this season with five games at first, nine games at third, eight games in right field, and 17 games as the designated hitter.

Nate Johnson has started at three different spots on the infield with seven starts at first, 24 at second, and three at third. He also has batted in eight different spots in the starting lineup order (2nd - 9th).

Tye Wood (LF) and Kaikea Harrison (SS) are the only two players on the team to start all the team's games at the same position all season long.

Nate Johnson and Matthias Haas are tied for the club lead with 12 two-out RBIs.

Trent Liolios is batting .800 (4-for-5) with the bases loaded.

The Green Wave are 5-1 in games that Jack Frankel starts on the mound.

Nolan Nawrocki leads the team with a pair of successful pinch hits. He is one of only six players that has registered at least one successful pinch hit this season along with James Agabedis, Matthias Haas, Jack Johnson, Hugh Pinkney, and Brett Rowell. On the flip side, the team's pitching staff has limited opponents to 4-for-27 (.148) in pinch-hitting opportunities.

After leading the American Conference last season with 131 doubles as team, Tulane is again among the leaders this season and are currently the league leader in two-baggers with 102 in the first 46 games.

The Green Wave are second in the conference in sacrifice bunts (31) and walks (241). The program is fourth in stolen bases (67) and sacrifice flies (23) plus fifth in runs (297)

Tulane is fourth in hit by pitches (64) and sixth ERA (5.19). The team is second in double plays (38), fourth in fielding percentage (.974), and fifth in triples (7).

The program's pitching is averaging an impressive 8.6 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 9.75 per contest.

The program is fourth in the American in shutouts (1) and seventh in strikeout- to-walk ratio (1.77).

The Tulane pitching staff has recorded 14 games with double figure strikeout totals this season.

Of the 23 new players on the roster this season, 20 have already made their Tulane debuts following the first 45 games of the season. The only newbies that have not appeared in a game this season are OF Cole Berge, OF/3B Matthew Major, and RHP Owen Geiss.

Individual Conference Leaders
Tanner Chun is third in the American Conference in hit by pitches (14) and fourth in walks (36).

Jason Wachs leads in doubles (19) and is fourth in on-base percentage (.469). He is sixth in walks (34) and sacrifice flies (4).

Jack Frankel leads in complete games with one.

Sam Larson leads in appearances (25) and is tied for sixth in saves (4).

Tom Vincent is eighth in saves (3).

Jude Abbadessa is third in appearances (23).

J.D. Rodriguez is sixth in wins (5) and 11th in ERA (3.78).

James Agabedis is second in sacrifice bunts (7).

Trent Liolios is fifth in sacrifice bunts (6)

Tye Wood is fifth in stolen bases (18), and tied for sixth in sacrifice flies (4)

Trey Cehajic is tied for the lead in games started (11)

Conference-Only Standouts
In conference-only play, Jason Wachs is hitting .382 with 21 runs, 26 hits, 10 doubles, a triple, five home runs, 14 RBIs, 53 total bases, a slugging percentage of .779, and an on-base percentage of .482.

Trent Liolios is hitting .326 with 14 runs, 20 hits, seven doubles, 14 RBIs, 12 walks, and a slugging percentage of .492.

Matthias Haas is hitting .339 with 11 runs, 19 hits, five doubles, and 11 RBIs

Tye Wood sports a .286 batting average with 16 runs, 20 hits, five doubles, 13 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases.

J.D. Rodriguez is 2-0 with 4.07 ERA in his 24.1 innings.

Tom Vincent is 1-0 with 0.00 ERA with a save and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings worked.

Blaise Wilcenski is 2-1 with 2.45 ERA in six games out of the bullpen and 18.1 innings.

Jack Brafa has thrown in seven games with eight strikeouts and a save in 8.0 innings pitched.

Notables From Southern Miss Game - 4/28
The Green Wave earned a 7-6 comeback victory over No. 12 Southern Miss.

The Tulane win over Southern Miss was the first for the program since earning a 10-7 victory in Hattiesburg during the 2018 season (5/1/18)

The home victory over the Golden Eagles was the first for Tulane since the 2017 season (4/19/17) when the Green Wave earned a 10-8 victory

The ranked win at home was the first for the program since knocking off then No. 6 ECU during the 2024 season in three straight contests (5/10-12/24)

The win over the No. 12 ranked Golden Eagles was the second ranked victory of the season for Tulane (vs. No. 17 TCU – 3/8/26)

The one-run victory was only the second of the season for Tulane

Tulane improved to 6-2 this season when hitting 2+ home runs as Trent Liolios and Matthias Haas both hit their second home runs of the season.

The multi-hit game was the 10th of the season for Haas.

Aidan Rath's pitching appearance in the fifth inning was his first time on the mound in a game since the opening home series against Harvard (2/21).

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 plays the team's final midweek game of the season and takes on LSU (25-21) on Tuesday, May 5, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge starting at 6:05 p.m.

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