The Tulane baseball team earned a 12-2 run-rule victory over Memphis on March 22 at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, clinching its first conference series of the season. The Green Wave improved their record to 13-12 overall and 2-1 in the American Athletic Conference, while Memphis fell to 6-16 and 1-2 in conference play.
This win marks Tulane’s fourth victory in its last five games and continues a strong start to conference competition. The team has now won the opening conference series in five of the last six years, demonstrating consistent early-season performance.
Jude Abbadessa was credited with the win after pitching 3.1 innings of relief and recording two strikeouts. Starter J.D. Rodriguez went for the first three-plus innings, allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts. Beau Sampson closed out the game by striking out all four batters he faced to earn his first save of the season.
Offensively, Nate Johnson led Tulane with three hits, two runs batted in (RBIs), and two runs scored. Trent Liolios contributed two hits, two RBIs, and a walk; Jason Wachs scored three times with a triple; Tye Wood added a pair of runs and an RBI; Matthias Haas walked three times with an RBI; Evan Burg drove in his first collegiate run; Hugh Pinkney tallied two hits and an RBI; Kaikea Harrison also added a hit and scored once.
Memphis initially took a lead but Tulane responded throughout the middle innings before breaking open the game with six runs in the eighth inning to reach the run-rule margin. The Green Wave are now set to face Grambling State at home on Wednesday evening for their final contest of a nine-game homestand.
Looking ahead, Tulane will aim to build on its recent momentum as it moves deeper into both non-conference play and future league matchups.
