No. 22 Tulane visits No. 13 ECU in pivotal AAC weekend baseball series

FIRST PLACE WAVE HEAD TO ECU FOR AAC SHOWDOWN
• Tulane baseball travels to East Carolina this weekend for a Top 25 clash with the Pirates. This weekend’s meeting will feature the American Athletic Conference’s top two teams. The Green Wave enter the weekend in first place while the Pirates sit in second place.
• Tulane continued to roll in conference play, as it captured its fourth straight league series defeating Houston in three out of four games last weekend.
• The first pitch for Friday’s doubleheader is set for 11 a.m. (CT). On Saturday, the two teams will meet for a doubleheader, beginning at Noon (CT). The series will conclude on Sunday with the first pitch slated for 11:30 a.m. (CT). Fans can listen to all four games on WRBH 88.3 FM. Games one and four will be aired live on ESPN+. Games two and three of the series will be aired on ECUPirates.com.

AROUND THE HORN WITH THE WAVE
• Tulane enters its matchup with ECU, having won 13 of its last 14 games.
• Tulane currently owns the American’s second-best team batting average (.281) and leads the league in overall team earned run average (3.51).
• The Green Wave also leads the American Athletic Conference in doubles (74), WHIP (1.31) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.67). In addition, Tulane ranks second in the AAC in triples (10), third in stolen bases (56) and fourth in walks (158).
• As a team, Tulane has driven in 80 runs with two outs.
• Freshman Bennett Lee leads the team with a .461 batting average, heading into the weekend. Collin Burns ranks second on the team in batting average (.360).
• Freshman Chase Engelhard leads the team with 32 RBI, while Burns has collected a team-best 59 hits.
• Junior Jack Aldrich will make his team-best 11th start on Friday.

SERIES HISTORY
• Tulane’s matchups with ECU will mark the 63rd, 64th, 65th and 66th all-time meetings between the two programs.
• The Green Wave own a 32-30 all-time series lead.
• The Green Wave’s matchup with ECU will mark the two teams’ first and only series this year.
• Tulane has dropped four of the last five games with ECU. The Green Wave have dropped eight of the last 10 meetings with the Pirates.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
• The Pirates enter this weekend’s matchup with Tulane following a road split with Wichita State.
• ECU returns return 27 players from last year’s club including American Athletic All-Conference performers Tyler Smith (2018) and Jake Kuchmaner (2019), as well as Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America selection C.J. Mayhue (2020). The squad also features 12 newcomers.
• ECU has been ranked or received votes in at least one national poll for 54-straight weeks.
• From March 15 to 22, the Pirates were a consensus Top 10 team and until last week they were ranked in the Top 15 for eight consecutive polls (March 8-April 19).
• ECU owns a team batting average of .305 – a figure that leads the AAC and ranks 13th in the country. The Pirates pitching staff has posted a team ERA of 3.95 which ranks second in the league and 43rd nationally.
• Head coach Cliff Godwin is in his seventh year on the Pirates bench and stands third on the ECU all-time wins list.

MOVING UP THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• The Tulane University baseball team marched up the rankings in two national collegiate polls this week, as it earned a No. 22 spot in Perfect Game and the No. 24 slot in Collegiate Baseball.
• Tulane also received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll for the second straight week.

RECAPPING THE LAST TIME OUT
The Tulane University baseball team continued American Athletic Conference play this past weekend versus Houston. The Green Wave captured three of the four games to capture the series win.

Listed below are some of the key stats and figures from the team’s four games last week.

.444 – Freshman catcher Bennett Lee batted .444, going 8-of-18 at the plate.

.248 – Tulane pitching held Houston to just a .248 batting average as a team.

43 – Tulane pitchers struck out 43 Houston batters this past weekend.

41 – The Green Wave collected 41 hits.

24 – Following the three wins this past weekend, Tulane checked in at No. 24 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings.

24 – The Green Wave now have 24 wins on the year.

22 – Perfect Game ranked the Green Wave 22nd in its latest poll.

12 – Right-handed pitcher Braden Olthoff registered a season-high 12 strikeouts.

8 – Chase Engelhard finished the weekend with a team-best eight RBI.

7 – The Green Wave had seven players post a batting average of .300-or-better.

4 – Tulane hit four home runs over the four games this past weekend.

1 – With the three wins last weekend, Tulane remained in first place in the American Athletic Conference.

TULANE BASEBALL MOVES TO 18 PERCENT CAPACITY
• Tulane University Athletics announced 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.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING!!!!
• Tulane enters its weekend series against ECU having won 13 of its last 14 games.
• The Green Wave had their winning streak snapped at 12 games against Houston on May 1.

LONGEST WINNING STREAKS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
1. 15 2001
15 1982
15 1966
4. 14 1983
5. 13 1998
6. 12 2021
12 1945
8. 11 1998
11 1987
10. 11x (Last 2006)

BURNS NOTICE
• Redshirt sophomore Collin Burns currently leads the team in runs scored (42), hits (59), doubles (15), triples (3) and total bases (95).
• He leads The American in doubles and triples. His 15 doubles and three triples rank in the top 50 nationally.
• Burns opened the season by hitting safely in nine straight games. He then went on to post a season-best 17-game hitting streak.

BENNY BARRELS
• Tulane freshman catcher Bennett Lee leads the Green Wave in batting average (.461), slugging percentage (.627) and on base percentage (.526).
• The Florida native is now batting a team-best .548 in his last 10 games.

OLTHOFF PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
• Tulane right-handed pitcher Braden Olthoff owns a 2.56 earned run average and is holding opponents to a .219 batting average in nine outings this year. He also is second on the staff with 56.1 innings pitched and leads the team with 70 strikeouts.
• 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 six batters in 8.0 innings of work at Mississippi State while only allowing just two earned runs en route to his first win of the season.
• Against Troy, Olthoff struck out nine batters and allowed just two runs to lead the Green Wave to a 9-4 victory over the Trojans.
• Olthoff struck out a then season-high 11 Louisiana Tech batters on March 19.
• Against Wichita State (April 16), Olthoff struck out 10 batters in 5.1 innings of work.
• Last week vs. Houston, Olthoff totaled a then season-high 12 strikeouts to lead the Green Wave to a 3-0 shutout win.

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 (March 19) and 8-6 in game three (March 21).
• Against Grand Canyon, Tulane was edged by one run in game two on March 27.
• Against Memphis on April 1, the Green Wave dropped a 4-3 decision in game one against the Tigers.
• Tulane has won its last three games that were decided by one run or less, as it defeated Wichita State 3-2 (April 16) and 8-7 (April 18). Tulane also earned a 6-5 win over Houston (May 1).

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 18 games. The Green Wave collected 10-or-more hits in three of their four wins vs. Houston (April 30-May 1).

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.

ESPN+ THE HOME FOR TULANE BASEBALL
• Tulane University baseball games will be more accessible than ever, as the program announced today that all 33 home games will be aired exclusively on ESPN+ for the 2021 campaign.
• Televised Tulane baseball road games will be announced on a weekly basis. Fans should check back on TulaneGreenWave.com for the latest broadcast information.

TULANE RANKED AMONG THE FAB 50
• The Green Wave enters the 2021 season ranked among the Fab 50 by Collegiate Baseball.
• Tulane checked in ranked No. 43.
• The Green Wave were one of five teams ranked in the Fab 50 from the American Athletic Conference.

BRINGING HOME THE PRESEASON HARDWARE
• Following a 2020 campaign where right-handed pitcher Braden Olthoff posted a 4-0 record in just four starts while recording a microscopic 0.32 earned run average with 47 strikeouts across 28 innings of work, folks across the country are starting to take notice.
• Prior to the 2021 campaign, Olthoff was recognized as the American Athletic Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
• Olthoff has also earned preseason All-America honors from Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.

MINDER EARNS PRESEASON NOD FROM THE AAC
• Redshirt junior Trevor Minder was named to the preseason all-league team this past December.
• Minder earned the preseason all-conference nod following a 2020 campaign where he finished the year with .359 batting average, three home runs and 14 RBI. In addition, the Springfield, Illinois, native posted 23 hits, five doubles and scored a team-best 20 runs.
• Minder also led The American in runs scored.

FIVE YEARS WITH JEWETT
• Tulane baseball head coach Travis Jewett begins his fifth season in Uptown this spring.
• Jewett owns a career record of 120-105.
• In each of Jewett’s first three seasons at Tulane, the Green Wave have steadily improved in batting average, hits, runs, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage.

JEWETT WELCOMES 20 NEW PLAYERS
• Earlier this fall, Travis Jewett announced the addition of 20 members of the 2020 recruiting class.
• The 2020 class marks the fifth under Jewett.
• Joining the Green Wave for the 2021 season will be: Aaron Ball, Matthew Bihm, Walker Burchfield, Andres Castro, Zach DeVito, Chase Engelhard, Jared Hart, Tyler Hoffman, Brandon Howell, Keaton Knueppel, Jacob LaPrairie, Bennett Lee, Blake Mahmood, Jake McDonald, Kennedy Norton, Camryn Szynski, Lane Thomas, Turner Thompson, Brian Valigosky and Charlie Yanoshik.

GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
• This past fall, Tulane baseball continued to excel at a high level in the classroom, as 36 players earned their way onto the 3.0 club.
• As a team, Tulane posted a fall semester GPA of 3.367.
• Prior to the fall semester, the Tulane baseball team received the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Excellence Award for the fourth year in a row.
• The Green Wave are one of just 22 NCAA Division I baseball programs who have received the award in four consecutive years and one of just four American Athletic Conference programs along with Cincinnati, East Carolina and Memphis to earn the recognition.
• Tulane has posted a team GPA of 3.0 or better in nine straight semesters.

PLEDGE PER WIN
• Tulane fans can ensure that every Green Wave win makes a lasting impact this season by joining the Pledge Per Win campaign.
• Fans can participate in the Pledge Per Win campaign by pledging to give $5, $10, or $25 to the Green Wave Club for each game the Tulane Baseball team wins this season.
• Additionally, supporters are encouraged to pledge $1 for every strikeout by Tulane pitchers this season. Fans interested in enrolling in the Pledge Per Win and Pledge Per Strikeout campaigns are encouraged to visit www.GreenWaveClub.com/ppw.

HASKIN DRAFTED BY THE ORIOLES
• Tulane baseball outfielder Hudson Haskin was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the 39th overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
• Chosen with the second selection in the second round of the MLB Draft, Haskin becomes the highest-picked outfielder in program history topping Jason Fitzgerald who was taken No. 41 overall in the 1997 draft.
• Haskin extends the Green Wave’s streak to nine consecutive years with at least one player selected and becomes the third player in program history to be selected in the second round joining first baseman Mark Hamilton (St. Louis Cardinals, 2006) and pitcher Steve Mura (San Diego Padres, 1978).
• Haskin garnered significant national recognition prior to the 2020 season when he was named a Preseason All-America Second Team selection by Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game/Rawlings, D1baseball and the NCBWA, respectively.

LOOK GOOD. FEEL GOOD. PLAY GOOD.
• The Tulane University’s uniform combinations are some of the most unique in all of collegiate baseball.
• The Green Wave baseball team features 33 different uniform combinations.