Tulane earns 7-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette

NEW ORLEANS, La. – While the Tulane offense was able to come through in big spots throughout the game, it was the Green Wave pitching staff that came through when the team needed it most to earn a 7-3 win over the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns Wednesday night at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

With a slim lead in the sixth inning and the visitors with runners at the corners looking to capitalize, the Green Wave (14-7) would get a big strikeout from Justin Campbell with two outs to limit any further damage. It would be that way much of the night for Tulane, as the staff followed Krishna Raj (2-0) with some quality relief work to the tune of the Ragin Cajuns (10-12) stranding nine runners on base over the course of the game and going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

“I thought it was a really solid night, because if you look at what we were able to do the biggest thing was not giving up any walks,” head coach Travis Jewett said. “That’s really good against a team like Louisiana-Lafayette who can do a lot of different things when they get free passes. Overall it was just good to see our guys take the energy from what we were doing offensively back into the field.”

Raj was able to earn his second win with the help of a red-hot Tulane offense that produced seven runs on 10 hits in the win, led by freshman Hudson Haskin who tied his season high in RBI on a 2-for-5 night with a home run and two runs scored. Kody Hoese hit his team-leading 10th home run of the season as he was walked three times after that with an RBI and two runs scored.

Brock Batty (1-1) took the loss as he allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings for Louisiana-Lafayette, with reliever Grant Cox giving up three runs on three hits with a walk in the next 1.2 innings of the game.

Kole McKinnon drove in two on two hits, while Orynn Veillon scored twice and had two hits for Louisiana-Lafayette.

It wouldn’t take a lot of work for Tulane to get the bats going, as with an out in the bottom of the first Hoese kicked off the scoring with his solo shot over the fence in left to put the Green Wave up first 1-0.

Grant Mathews earned his second hit of the day to open the bottom of the third with a ground-rule double to right center to reach base. Haskin did the rest as he belted a shot off the scoreboard in left to put Tulane up 3-0.

The Cajuns were able to plate their first run of the game in the fourth to pull within two, but Tulane answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a Trevor Jensen single to right and Hoese getting walked to put two on.

Mathews came through with a sacrifice bunt to advance the two to third, and Haskin was clutch again with a single up the middle as Tulane went up 5-1. The team wasn’t done there as Kobi Owen doubled off the wall in right center to plate Haskin and make it a 6-1 Green Wave lead.

After scoring one run in each of the next two innings, Tulane looked like it was going to go into the eighth leading by only three until Frankie Niemann doubled down the right field line to score Hoese to push the lead back to four.

Louisiana-Lafayette would put together one more threat to the Green Wave lead in the eighth, as a single and a hit batter put two on for the visitors. After Trent Johnson’s second strikeout of the frame in relief of Campbell, Connor Pellerin (2) came on and would get the next batter to strike out swinging to end the last assault on the Tulane lead for the Ragin Cajuns.

Pellerin would retire the side in order in the ninth to clinch the save and the win for Tulane.

The team will be back in action to close its 12-game home stand this weekend, hosting the Houston Baptist Huskies for a three-game series at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.