NEW ORLEANS — The Green Wave baseball team hits the road for the first time since March 12 to take on USF for their first conference road series this weekend.
TULANE HEADS SOUTH TO TAKE ON USF IN TAMPA
· The Green Wave baseball team hits the road for the first time since March 12 to take on USF for their first conference road series this weekend.
· The first pitch for Friday’s doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. (CT). On Saturday, the two teams will meet for a single game, beginning at 4:30 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday with the first pitch slated for Noon. All four games will be aired live on ESPN+ and can be heard on WRBH 88.3 FM.
· The Green Wave will look to build off the momentum from their 3-1 series win over Memphis on last week.
AROUND THE HORN WITH THE WAVE
· Tulane enters its matchup with USF in the midst of a three-game winning streak.
· Tulane currently owns a .268 team batting average and an overall team earned run average of 3.90 which ranks second in the American Athletic Conference.
· The Green Wave rank first in the American Athletic Conference in doubles (50) and triples (9), team ERA (4.23) and WHIP (1.35) and third in walks (94). Tulane also ranks fourth in stolen bases (26) and fifth in fielding percentage (.972).
· Collin Burns (.354) and Jacob LaPrairie (.353) both own batting averages over .300. Freshman Bennett Lee leads the team with a .404 batting average, heading into the weekend.
· Lee has recorded two-or-more hits eight times and has two games with multiple extra-base hits in 15 games this season.
· Junior Luis Aviles leads the team with 23 RBI, while Burns has collected a team-best 40 hits.
· Junior Jack Aldrich will make his team-best eight start on Friday. His seven starts lead The American and rank fifth nationally.
SERIES HISTORY
· Tulane’s matchups with USF will mark the 61st, 62nd, 63rd and 64th all-time meetings between the programs.
· The Green Wave own a 36-24 all-time series lead.
· The Green Wave’s matchup with USF will mark the first meeting since 2019.
· Tulane has won three of the last five games and seven of the last 10 meetings with the Bulls.
SCOUTING THE BULLS
· Memphis enters its matchup with Tulane, having won three of its last five games.
· The Bulls finished non-conference play with a 10-12 mark. USF split its American Athletic Conference opening series with in-state rival UCF last week.
· Head coach Billy Mohl is in his fourth season at USF. Mohl graduated from Tulane in 2007 and was college teammate with current Green Wave pitching coach Daniel Latham.
· The Bulls are currently in the midst of a nine-game homestand.
· Redshirt freshman Carmine Lane leads the Bulls with a .354 batting average, while redshirt freshman starter Jack Jasiak leads all Bulls starters with a team-best 3.63 ERA.
RECAPPING THE WEEK THAT WAS
· The Tulane University baseball team opened American Athletic Conference play on a high note last week, as it took three of four games from the University of Memphis and picked up a midweek win over Jackson State on March 30.
· Listed below are some of the key stats and figures from the team’s five games last week.
.588 – Freshman Jacob LaPrairie batted .588, going 10-for-17 at the plate.
.500 – Freshman Bennett Lee totaled a batting average of .500, as he went 10-for-20 at the plate.
.327 – As a team, Tulane batted .327.
39 – Tulane scored 39 runs.
28 – Tulane freshman collected 28 hits.
26 – Green Wave weekend starters worked 26.0 innings.
25 – Green Wave weekend starters struck out 25 batters.
23 – Tulane outscored its opponents by 23 runs.
14 – The Green Wave moved above .500 and now own a 14-13 record.
4 – Tulane won four games last week.
2.80 – Tulane posted a team earned run average of 2.80.
2 – Tulane is currently tied for second in The American.
1 – After six weeks of college baseball, Tulane leads The American in doubles and triples.
TULANE BASEBALL MOVES TO 18 PERCENT CAPACITY
· Tulane University Athletics announced this week an increase in capacity for Green Wave baseball games inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
· In accordance with state, local and American Athletic Conference guidelines while maintaining six feet between seating pods, capacity for remaining games will increase to 18 percent.
· With this announced increase, Tulane Athletics has a limited number of tickets available to the general public for purchase.
BURNS NOTICE
· Redshirt sophomore Collin Burns currently leads the team in runs scored (30), hits (40), doubles (11), triples (3) and total bases (60).
· He leads The American in doubles and triples. His 11 doubles and three triples rank in the top 10 nationally.
· Burns opened the season by hitting safely in nine straight games. He currently is riding a team-best 10-game hitting streak.
· He matched his career high with three hits while leading off against La. Tech on March 21.
· Six of his 14 RBI have come with two outs.
BENNY BARRELS
· Tulane freshman catcher Bennett Lee leads the Green Wave in batting average (.404), slugging percentage (.667) and on base percentage (.477).
· Lee is currently tied for the team lead with three home runs.
· The Florida native is now batting a team-best .471 in his last 10 games.
OLTHOFF PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
· Tulane right-handed pitcher Braden Olthoff was masterful on Feb. 26 at then No. 5-ranked Mississippi State, as he guided the Green Wave to a win over a Top 5 opponent for the first time since 2014.
· Olthoff struck out a season-high 11 La. Tech batters on March 19.
· It was the fourth time he racked up double-digit strikeouts in just nine starts for the Green Wave dating back to last season.
· Olthoff struck out six batters in 8.0 innings of work while only allowing one run on just two hits en route to his first win of the season.
· Against Troy, Olthoff struck out a season-high nine batters and allowed just two runs to lead the Green Wave to a 9-4 victory over the Trojans.
· In six outings this year, Olthoff owns a 3.00 earned run average and is holding opponents to a .243 batting average. He also leads the staff with 36.0 innings pitched and 40 strikeouts.
SO CLOSE
· In 2021, Tulane has suffered eight losses by two runs or less.
· In its matchup with then No. 5-ranked Mississippi State, Tulane was four outs away from completing a three-game sweep of the Bulldogs on the road.
· Tulane also held the lead in all three games at Mississippi State, heading into the bottom of the ninth.
· In the Green Wave’s lone loss against Western Kentucky on March 7, Tulane held a two-run lead heading into the seventh inning.
· Tulane dropped a pair of games to Louisiana Tech by two runs falling 2-0 in game one and 8-6 in game three.
· Against Grand Canyon, Tulane was edged by one run in game two.
· Last week against Memphis, the Green Wave dropped a 4-3 decision in game one against the Tigers.
THE HIT PARTY
· In the series finale against Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 21, Tulane posted a season-high 20 hits.
· This season, Tulane has totaled 10-or-more hits in 12 games. The Green Wave collected 10-or-more hits in all four of their four wins last week.
MR. RELIABLE
· Redshirt junior Justin Campbell has established himself as a reliable pitcher out of the bullpen for the Green Wave
· Campbell has appeared in 13 of Tulane’s 27 games this season. His 13 appearances rank third in The American.
WORKING OVERTIME
· The Tulane baseball team got its money’s worth at the diamond during opening weekend, as it began its 114th baseball season.
· In all three games with in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette, nine innings weren’t enough to decide the outcome.
· Games one and two both went 10 innings with the series finale going 12 frames.
· During the first weekend of Division I collegiate baseball, 20 games went into extra frames.
· Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette were the ONLY teams in Division I to see all three of its opening weekend games go into extra frames.
A THREE-HEADED MONSTER
· The Tulane baseball team returns all three players from its 2020 rotation for this season in the form of Braden Olthoff, Jack Aldrich and Donovan Benoit.
- The Green Wave trio combined for an 8-0 win-loss record, posted a 1.89 earned run average, logged 66.2 innings, struck out 83 and held opponents to a .181 batting average.
