STARKVILLE, Mississippi – Redshirt junior Braden Olthoff was a one-man wrecking crew Friday night, as he went 8.0 innings to lead the Tulane University baseball team to a convincing 7-3 victory over No. 5-ranked Mississippi State inside Dudy Noble Field.
The California native was in complete control throughout his eight-innings of work, as he struck out six, scattered six hits, walked one and was tagged for only two earned runs to pickup his first victory of the season.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Olthoff said. “We know how good a team that is, so it was a big game for us. The offense came together and the defense was great behind me and it’s just nice to get a win against such a top caliber team. It will really give us a lot of confidence going forward.”
With the win, Tulane picked up second straight victory and improved to 3-2 on the year. The win also marked Tulane’s first victory over Mississippi State since 1996.
“I think this is a statement for our kids and how they feel and what they think they are capable of,” head coach Travis Jewett said. “We needed to come in believing that we could win. The kids played with confidence. Just like we used those tough losses against Louisiana-Lafayette, we can use wins like this to give us confidence. I think this win is more of a statement internally than it is externally.”
New Orleans native Collin Burns continued to swing a hot bat, as he collected his a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runs to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
“This kid is a ball player for us,” Jewett said. “He has played well from the ball being put in play this fall to now. He’s catching the ground ball well and he’s making all the throws from all different types of angles. Pound for pound, he’s the strongest guy on our team. He’s certainly made that nice move in his career and I’m real proud of him.”
Burns’ two-out home run in the top half of the third inning gave the Green Wave a 3-1 lead after Mississippi State plated one run in the bottom half of the first inning.
Tulane continued to pile on the Bulldogs, as it plated three more runs in the top half of the sixth thanks to an RBI single by Simon Baumgardt and an RBI double to left center by redshirt sophomore Jared Hart which drove in a pair of runs to make the score 6-1.
Mississippi State fought back with a run in the bottom half of the sixth, but was limited to just one hit for the final three innings.
The Bulldogs struggled defensively, as they committed four errors.
Relief pitcher Keagan Gillies came on to pitch the ninth to secure the win for the Green Wave.
UP NEXT
Tulane returns to action tomorrow for game two of the three-game series against Mississippi State. The first pitch is set for 2 p.m.
{Press release courtesy of Tulane Athletics}
