The University of Central Florida Knights took two of three games against the Tulane University Green Wave in an American Athletic Conference baseball clash. After this weekend, the Green Wave sits in seventh in the AAC while the Knights are in a three-way tie for fourth.

Before taking on UCF, Tulane played in Hattiesburg, Mississippi against the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The midweek clash started well for the Wave with starter Chandler Welch allowing just 1 run in 3.2 innings. Entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Tulane led 4-1. However, the bullpen let down Tulane head coach Jay Uhlman once again, as the Wave let up 9 runs in the next four innings. The visitors scored a late consolation run, but the game ended 10-5 in favor of Southern Miss.

In the first game of the series against UCF, Dylan Carmouche started on the mound for Tulane. The ace pitcher delivered six excellent innings where he struck out 10 batters while only giving up 3 runs. Offensively, the Wave started hot with 3 runs in the first, but faltered after that. 

“That was not a good effort offensively from the third hitter of the fifth inning on. We reverted for whatever reason,” Uhlman said after the game. In total, the team struck out 17 times over the course of the game.

At the top of the ninth, Tulane’s bullpen once again failed to hold onto a lead. The Knights struck twice to put the Wave in a 5-3 hole in the bottom half of the inning. Tulane failed to mount a comeback, giving the visitors the win.

Game two went much better for Tulane, as the Wave mercy ruled their opponents 13-2. Tulane had 10 hits with every starter getting at least one. After scoring 2 in the second, the Wave scored 4 in the fourth thanks to RBI singles from Brady Hebert, Brady Marget and Brennan Lambert. In the fifth, Tulane scored 7 with Hebert, Simon Baumgardt, Jacob LaPrairie and James Agabedis III, all hitting RBI singles.

On the mound, Ricky Castro pitched six brilliant innings with eight strikeouts and allowed just 2 runs. Reliever Grant Cleavinger pitched a scoreless seventh inning to finish out the game.

However, the Knights bounced back in game three to take the series. UCF clubbed 4 home runs in the first five innings with Tulane’s pitchers having no answers for the Knights. Tulane particularly faltered in the fourth inning, when four Green Wave pitchers gave up 5 runs. 

Knights starting pitcher Cameron Leiter — who had two uncles play in the MLB, has a cousin who currently pitches for the Chicago Cubs and another cousin who is the top prospect in the Texas Rangers organization — was brilliant. He struck out 11 batters and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, when he gave up back-to-back solo home runs to Hebert and Teo Banks. Jackson Linn hit a consolation home run in the ninth, but the game ended as a 10-3 victory for the Knights. 

“We were cross wired and could never figure out what we were doing. The bottom of their order had four homers and seven RBIs, and ours was not up to the task,” Uhlman said in a postgame interview.

Tulane baseball was scheduled to travel to Mobile, Alabama to play the University of South Alabama on Tuesday, May 9, but the game was canceled due to weather. The Green Wave will host its final home series of the season when the University of Houston Cougars come to town for a three-game set.