Tulane sends Cincinnati home with second straight elimination game victory

BOX SCORE

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Freshman Teo Banks made history at the American Athletic Conference Championship becoming the first player to hit for the cycle in the tournament as he led the Tulane University baseball team past Cincinnati 13-5 Friday to advance to the semifinals of the 2022 American Athletic Conference Championship. Banks highlighted an offensive onslaught from the Green Wave that featured 18 hits including four home runs and 11 extra-base hits.

With the victory Tulane improved to 33-25-1 on the year and will face East Carolina Saturday with a spot in the championship on the line. The Green Wave will have to beat the Pirates twice to advance to the championship game on Sunday.

Officially renaming the @American_BSB conference tournament 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙚𝙤 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡

Check out what it looks like to hit for the cycle!#RollWave 🌊⚾️ pic.twitter.com/APkLDFLNcR

— Tulane Baseball (@GreenWaveBSB) May 27, 2022

Banks showcased his skills at the plate going 4-of-6 to hit for the cycle in the game. The Odessa, Texas, product is the first Tulane player to hit for the cycle since Trevor Minder against Middle Tennessee in 2020. Banks’ four hits led the team as he also drove in four runs and scored three times.

All nine starters for Tulane notched at least one hit in the offensive outpouring for the Green Wave against Cincinnati. Minder did his best to keep up with Banks as he collected three hits including two home runs, four runs driven and three runs scored. Luis Aviles and Gavin Schulz each added a pair of RBIs in the game giving Aviles his 14th multi-RBI performance of the season.

Carter Robinson put together a strong outing earning his fourth win of the year to help the Green Wave stave off elimination once again. The Phoenix, Arizona, product stuck out a season-high eight batters while giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits across five innings of work on the mound.

Freshman Chandler Welch earned his second save of the season as he tossed 3.2 innings in relief for the Wave allowing just one run while striking out six.

Tulane got the offense rolling early as it plated three runs in the top of the first inning. Bennett Lee led off the contest with a double before Brady Marget worked a one out walk and Banks put the Wave on the scoreboard with a two-run triple off the wall in right center field. Simon Baumgardt followed with an RBI single into left to plate Banks and put Tulane up 3-0 after its first trip to the plate.

Aviles tacked on another run for the Green Wave in the second inning with an RBI single that scored Jared Hart from second base.

The Wave put up another crooked number in the third on a two-run blast off the bat of Schulz. The long ball by the freshman was his second of the season. Three batters later Aviles picked up his second RBI of the day with double that brought home Hart again to put Tulane up 7-0.

Minder launched the Green Wave’s second home run of the day in the top of the fourth when he sent a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run round tripper.

Cincinnati finally got through against Robinson in the bottom of the fourth striking for a pair of runs in the frame on a two-run home run. The Tulane right-hander bounced right back to hold the Bearcats to just the two runs as picked up back-to-back punchouts to end the inning.

After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth the Wave made its first call to the bullpen as senior Keaton Knueppel entered to replace Robinson on the mound. Cincinnati added two more runs on a home run against Knueppel before Tulane went back to the bullpen to bring on Welch with two runners on base and one out. Welch made quick work of the Bearcats to limit any more damage in the frame recording a strikeout and a groundout to leave both runners stranded.

In the eighth inning the Tulane offense went on the attack again. Banks completed the cycle with a two-run bomb over the left field wall to put the Wave back up by seven runs. The Green Wave was not done in the frame, however, as Minder launched his second two-run home run of the day pushing the Tulane advantage to 13-4.

The Bearcats managed to scratch one run across in the bottom of the ninth, but Welch closed the door to send the Green Wave on to the next round at the AAC Championship with a 13-5 victory.

UP NEXT

Tulane will face the top-seeded East Carolina Pirates at 8:00 a.m. Saturday. With a win the Green Wave will face ECU a second time on Saturday for a chance to advance to the AAC Championship title game. The game will be aired live on ESPN+. Fans can also listen on the radio by tuning into WRBH 88.3 FM.

AAC TOURNAMENT

Friday, May 27
Game 9: Tulane 13, Cincinnati 5

Game 10: Memphis vs. UCF | 47 minutes after Game 9
ESPN+ | Live Statistics

Saturday, May 28
Game 11: Tulane vs. East Carolina | 9 a.m.
ESPN+ | Live Statistics

Game 12: Houston vs. Winner of Game 10 | 47 minutes after Game 11
ESPN+ | Live Statistics

Game 13 (If Necessary): Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 | 47 minutes after Game 12
ESPN+ | Live Statistics

Game 14 (If Necessary): Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 | 47 minutes after Game 13
ESPN+ | Live Statistics

Sunday, May 29
Game 15: Semifinal Winners | Noon
ESPNews | Live Statistics