The Tulane baseball team lost to Florida Atlantic by a score of 10-9 on April 18, after a six-run comeback effort in the ninth inning fell just short at FAU Baseball Stadium. The defeat marked the second time this season that Tulane has dropped a weekend series to a conference opponent.
This close loss is significant for Tulane as it impacts their record within the American Athletic Conference and highlights challenges when playing from behind. The Green Wave are now even with Florida Atlantic in conference play, both holding records of 6-8.
Trailing by seven runs entering the final inning, Tulane rallied with six runs, bringing the tying run to second base before ending the game on a fly out. Key moments included Nate Johnson scoring on a wild pitch, Tanner Chun hitting a two-run double, Matthias Haas driving in another run with two outs, and Trent Liolios delivering a two-run double while down to his last strike. Despite these efforts, FAU managed to secure the win.
Pitching for Tulane saw Jake Toporek start and allow four runs over nearly five innings. Jack Brafa and Jude Abbadessa contributed from the bullpen but gave up additional runs. Michael Devenney and Max Mazinter each pitched scoreless outings late in the game; Mazinter made his debut for Tulane during this contest.
Offensively, Nolan Nawrocki hit his second home run of the season while Liolios had three hits including his seventh multi-hit game this year. Jason Wachs also homered for his fourth time this season. Chun recorded his third multi-hit game of the campaign.
Florida Atlantic built an early lead with key contributions from Ian Collier, Brando Leroux (two-run homer), Brett Patten (RBI double), Patrick Ward (single and two-run homer), Nick Romano (multiple RBIs), and Kyle Boylston (RBI single). Kide Adetuyi earned the win for FAU after pitching six innings with seven strikeouts.
With this result, Tulane’s record stands at 20-20 overall and they remain winless when opponents score ten or more runs or take an early lead—a trend continuing throughout their road games this season. The teams will meet again Sunday morning for the final game of their series.
