Tulane downs East Tennessee State to sweep Saturday twinbill, win series

Junior Grant Witherspoon collected a game-high three hits

NEW ORLEANS – Junior outfielder Grant Witherspoon tallied a game-high three hits and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Tulane University baseball team to a convincing 9-4 win over East Tennessee State in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.

With the win, Tulane captured the series and improved to 19-22 on the year, while ETSU dropped to 19-17. The Green Wave outhit the Buccaneers by an 11-9 count and did not commit an error for the second straight game.

“I got a little unlucky last night, 0-5 is pretty tough to look at, but I felt like something like this was coming,” Witherspoon said. “I’m just trying to stay consistent. I feel like that’s what I really needed to work on coming into the year. As the season drags on, I look up and we don’t have many games left, so we have to finish strong, and I’m glad we’re getting it going.”

Freshman right-handed pitcher Josh Bates picked up the win for Tulane, as he went 6.0 innings, struck out four, scattered four hits and allowed just one earned run.

“It’s hard to sweep somebody when you’ve got a doubleheader in the same day, but the kids did it,” head coach Travis Jewett said. “All the credit goes to them. We had a lot of guys that had some nice days at the plate.”

Tulane wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as it scored one run in the bottom half of the first thanks to a two-out RBI single by sophomore Kody Hoese, which plated Witherspoon from second base.

ETSU responded with a run in the top half of the second, as it scored one run on two hits, but Tulane responded in a big way in the bottom half of the frame, as it scored three runs on two hits to take a 4-1 lead. Junior Tyler Heinrichs highlighted the frame with a two-run home run to left field, which cleared the scoreboard.

“We’re going to need him (Heinrichs) to continue to grow and stay humble, but I like the direction of his game right now,” Jewett said.

The Green Wave added to their lead in the third by scoring two runs on two hits. Trevor Jensen and Sal Gozzo both drove in runs for Tulane to make the count 6-1.

Both teams were held scoreless over the next three innings, but in the seventh, ETSU would add a run to trim Tulane’s lead to four (6-2). The Green Wave quickly responded in the bottom half of the frame thanks to an RBI single up the middle by freshman David Bedgood, which pushed Tulane’s lead back to five (7-2).

ETSU would not go away, as it loaded the bases in the eighth inning and brought the tying run to the on deck circle, but Tulane quickly closed the door thanks to the strong pitching of senior left-hander Sam Bjorngjeld. Bjorngjeld came on in relief for the second time on the day and held the Buccaneers to just one run.

In the bottom half of the frame, Witherspoon put the game out of reach thanks to a towering two-run home run over the right center field wall to make the score 9-3. ETSU added another run in the ninth to make the score 9-4, but it would get no closer, as Tulane went on to sweep the doubleheader.

With the game two win, the Green Wave moved to 6-2 on the nine-game homestand, which concludes on Tuesday against Texas Southern at Turchin Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

Follow Green Wave Baseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (TulaneBaseball). Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.