After winning their first series of the season against the Columbia University Lions, Tulane baseball traveled back to the Pacific for a midweek matchup against the University of Washington Huskies and a weekend series against the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Rainbow Warriors. After the four games, the Green Wave are 6-18 on the season.

On Wednesday, March 22, the Wave visited Husky Ballpark in Seattle to play Washington. The Slugger Birds, who have been struggling all season, finally took flight with a 14-9 victory against the hosts. Both heavily used their bullpens, and the Green Wave used eight different pitchers. Starter Jonah Wachter saw his first win of the season after pitching two innings, while Colin Reilly and Michael Lombardi both did well in their two innings of work.

Offensively, Tulane had 17 hits including seven doubles and three home runs — courtesy of Brennan Lambert, Teo Banks and Simon Baumgardt. Jacob LaPrairie had an excellent night with two hits, three walks, four RBIs and 3 runs scored. Other players with a multi-hit game include Banks, Baumgardt, Chase Engelhard and Brady Hebert.

On Friday, Tulane was in Honolulu to take on Hawai’i at Les Murakami Stadium. Both starting pitchers — Dylan Carmouche for Tulane and Harry Gustin for the Baseball ‘Bows — pitched gems for their respective clubs. Both pitchers struck out eight while walking just one. However, Hawai’i managed a 3-1 win thanks to a 3-run sixth inning.

Gustin had a no hitter going through six innings; however, he gave up a pinch-hit home run to Adam Ebling in the seventh. Connor Harrison had the save for the hosts.

Things got worse for the Wave on Saturday when Hawai’i crushed the visitors 7-1. Rainbow Warriors starter Randy Abshier pitched six brilliant innings, only conceding one hit while striking out eight. Offensively, Kyson Donahue’s grand slam in the third inning did most of the damage for Hawai’i. For the Wave, their lone run again came in the seventh inning courtesy of an RBI single from Ebling.

Sunday was not kind to the visitors either with a 5-1 loss. Tulane starter Ricky Castro pitched well enough — striking out five and giving up only two runs — but the offensive struggles continued. Hawai’i had two home runs on the day, courtesy of Donahue and Sean Rimmer.

While it looked like Tulane might have turned around their season with the series win over Columbia and the midweek demolition of Washington, the Hawai’i series firmly put the Wave back in square one. 

With conference play rapidly approaching, Tulane head coach Jay Uhlman will need to quickly find solutions to the club’s three main problems — team defense, hitting with runners in scoring position and the bullpen.

Tulane will next play at 6 p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 29 against the New Orleans Privateers in a home game. This is the second leg of the Pelican Cup, with the Green Wave down in the series 1-0. After that, Tulane will welcome the Memphis Tigers to begin American Athletic Conference play in a three-game set from March 31-April 2.