NEW ORLEANS — The Tulane bullpen held visiting Columbia scoreless with just four hits and two walks over the game’s final four innings to nail down a 6-3 win Sunday on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. The triumph gave the Olive and Blue the series victory.
Tulane improved to 5-15 overall, while the Lions returned home with a 6-9 mark.
The Green Wave’s Brian Valigosky (1-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing two innings and allowing three hits and a walk with one strikeout. Hard-throwing Cristian Sanchez worked the ninth for his first save and gave up a hit, while striking out one.
The Lions’ Brandon Madrigal (0-1) suffered the loss, as he allowed a run and a walk on three hits in two frames. In total, Columbia’s pitchers struggled with command for most of the day as they issued 11 walks and hit two batters.
TU center fielder Brady Hebert went 2-for-2 at the dish and drove in three runs. Left fielder Jacob LaPrairie also went 2-for-2 and second baseman Chase Engelhard scored twice.
Columbia shortstop Andy Blake went 4-for-5 offensively and second baseman Jack Kail got two hits with a pair of RBI, both of which came on a fifth-inning triple down the right field line.
Hebert scored Engelhard on a single to right in the second inning to give the home team an early 1-0 advantage.
The Lions, though, scored three times in the fifth to grab a 3-1 lead, but the Green Wave came right back in the bottom half of the inning when Hebert scored on a throwing error by Columbia catcher Weston Eberly. That cut the lead in half and designated hitter Jackson Linn then tied it at 3 with a sacrifice fly.
Hebert contributed an RBI single in the sixth to make it 4-3 Tulane. In the eighth, catcher Brennan Lambert drove in a run with a bases-loaded hit by pitch and first baseman Brady Marget added another via his groundout that scored center fielder Jared Hart.
The Green Wave is headed back West next week as it is scheduled to face Washington on Wednesday at 8:05 p.m., followed by a three-game set at Hawaii on Friday (11:35 p.m. CT), Saturday (11:35 p.m. CT) and Sunday (6:05 p.m. CT).
*Courtesy Tulane Sports Information