Green Wave baseball begins fall ball play buoyed by strong recruiting class

Mark Keplinger, Sports Editor
November 18, 2021

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In preparation for the spring campaign to come, Tulane baseball begins fall ball play with two exhibition games and five intersquad matches. The Green Wave scrimmaged Lamar University and Pensacola State College before beginning the intersquad Fall Ball World Series.  

Tulane baseball remains a regional and conference powerhouse. Last season, the Olive and Blue went 31-24, including 17-10 in conference play, en route to a semifinal exit in the American Athletic Conference Championship. The team defended their home turf particularly well, going 20-11 at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Thanks to a strong season five Tulane players were selected in the last MLB draft.

Looking at this upcoming season, Tulane was judged to have recruited the 27th-best class in the country. Headlining this incoming class are Teo Banks and Jackson Linn. Banks made the Texas first team all-state selection last season and won district MVP honors en route to a 30-10 season with Permian High School out of Odessa, Texas. Banks was a dual sport athlete, lettering three times for the legendary Permian Panthers football team. Banks was drafted in the 12th round of the MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs but chose instead to play for the Green Wave this season.

Linn, out of Boston, also boasts an impressive resume entering his freshman year with the Green Wave. The outfielder hit an otherworldly .522 his senior year and was drafted in the 20th round by the Houston Astros.

The Green Wave began fall ball with an 18-inning scrimmage against Lamar. Tulane triumphed 6-3, thanks to a brilliant combined pitching effort by 11 pitchers. Green Wave pitchers struckout 13 batters, while the defense limited errors to just two. Offensively, Tulane had 13 hits and drew seven walks.

Tulane played its second exhibition match when it hosted Pensacola State, winning 20-4 in 15 innings of play. The Green Wave thoroughly dominated PSU, with the visitors scoring their first run of the day in the 12th inning. Before that moment, Tulane was winning 13-0. The Green Wave had 19 hits on the day and only committed one error on the field. Sophomore transfer Brayden Morrow led the way for Tulane, with a home run and three RBIs in total. Morrow played his last two seasons with PSU.

For the intersquad Fall Ball World Series, the team split into a blue team, captained by Luis Aviles, and a green team, captained by Bennett Lee. The blue team triumphed in the first two games, outlasting their opponents 3-0 in a seven-inning pitching duel in the first game, and winning 4-3 in the second, although the second game was forfeited by the winning team due to a technical rules breach.

The rest of the series will be played at Turchin Stadium on Nov. 17th, 19th and 21st. Tulane’s spring baseball calendar has not yet been released.

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