It took a few innings and, granted, the opponent won’t be mistaken for the ’27 Yankees, but Tulane finally got its groove back. The Green Wave took up where they left off Friday night in Saturday’s elimination game against Lehigh, quickly falling behind the fourth-seeded Mountain Hawks, 3-0, in the first inning.
Starter Corey Merrill was shaky, the offense was, again, misfiring in the clutch and Tulane was in a postseason funk. The Wave’s 10-1 loss to second-seeded UNC Wilmington on Friday night/early Saturday morning was pretty much a train wreck and the top half of the first inning was a resumption of that performance.
But a seven-run inning can do wonders for a team’s morale. Not even a three-hour, 16-minute rain delay took the steam out of Tulane’s sails.
The third-seeded Green Wave got big hits when they needed them, solid pitching and great glove work to key their 15-3 victory against Lehigh on Saturday night at Alex Box Stadium in the Baton Rouge Regional.
It won’t go down as one of the great victories in the proud program’s history. But it is of note for the simple reason that it was their first victory in a postseason game in seven years minus one day. Tulane’s last victory in an NCAA Tournament affair was May 31, 2008, against Bucknell.
The way the day was going and the rain coming down, it looked like this victory would, in fact, extend to Sunday morning (May 31).
Tulane (35-24) now lives to battle another day, facing the loser of the LSU-UNC Wilmington game in a 3 p.m. contest Sunday afternoon. Weather permitting, of course.
That looked very much in jeopardy as the Wave struggled out of the gate against Lehigh, which finished the season under par at 25-31. The undermanned Mountain Hawks are plucky but several Louisiana college baseball programs would have been better choices for the college baseball’s postseason, including Southeastern Louisiana University, Northwestern State University, Nicholls State, etc.
But rules are rules and by winning the Patriot League tournament, Lehigh was granted access to the NCAA Tournament ahead of many more deserving outfits.
Nevertheless, they jumped on Merrill and the Wave for three runs on three hits with a Tulane error adding to the carnage in the top of the first inning. Merrill threw 32 pitches in the inning and appeared as though his day would be short as the summer sun bore down.
But Tulane got a run in the bottom of the first inning and Merrill shut down the Mountain Hawks offense. In the next four innings, he did not allow a hit and faced the minimum 12 batters.
The bottom of the fourth inning was where Tulane’s offense finally – finally – came to life. The Wave was 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in Friday’s loss to UNC Wilmington and 3-for-18 with runners on base.
That lifeless number extended early in Saturday’s game and Tulane was 2-for-16 with ducks on the pond for the tournament three innings into the contest.
Then came the fourth inning when the Wave finally got some clutch hits and looked like they belonged. They needed only four hits as Lehigh’s bullpen aided the cause with two hit batsmen and two walks.
Seven runs crossed the plate, including three when catcher Jake Rogers delivered a three-run double with two outs for the fifth, sixth and seventh runs of the frame. He was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple. But no matter, the Wave controlled 8-3.
The next inning the rains came, and play was halted until 8:01 p.m. Saturday night.
But Tulane didn’t falter when the game resumed. The Wave added two runs in the bottom of the fifth and five in the bottom of the seventh.
Merrill, who got the victory, was, of course, done for the day. But reliever Tim Yandel took up where Merrill left off. He gave up no runs on just two hits in four innings pitched, striking out two. Yandel earned redemption for a disappointing performance Friday night when he failed to record an out in an appearance in which he allowed two runs on three hits.
Lehigh vanquished, the Wave gets to enjoy another day in Baton Rouge. The odds of them fighting back and capturing the Regional are long. Its pitching will be taxed as it has to win three additional games to advance to the Super Regional.
But at least Saturday, this looked more like the Tulane of old.
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Trey Iles can be reached at riles@nola.com or 504.826.3405.
