South Alabama defeats Tulane 8-6

Freshman Wade Konvicka throws for the Green Wave, photo credit: Parker Waters

Tulane ran out of pitching last night, not figuratively, but literally. They had the lead, but with no arms left to protect it. They lost eight to six.

The Green Wave jumped out to the early lead against South Alabama last night at Tuchin, in a fashion that is becoming too familiar for Green Wave fans. The offense burst out of the gates with a five runs, but by the time the boys hit the middle of the game, it disappeared. While it may not be a focus thing, the Green Wave often seems to vanish during the middle innings. Why?

“When something like that happens, it can start with one pitch or one batter. It could be anything,” Junior Jeremy Schaffer said. “Maybe some guy goes up and doesn’t have a great at-bat and the next guy keeps into that and maybe presses a little it. When things like that happen, you just have to take a deep breath and instead of trying to be the guy that doesn’t mess up again, you have to try to go out and do something.”

Even if that is the mindset, it didn’t seem to work. So while the Green Wave offense vanished, the Jaguars were chipping away. Suddenly it was only a two run lead. It’s hard to blame the pitchers for the offense that South Alabama showed. The Greenies received a strong outing from Freshman Wade Konvicka, who was supposed to be redshirted this year. He threw five innings, allowing three earned runs, and left with a five to three lead.

“Wade didn’t have good stuff but he competed and I was really proud of his effort. He really competed. He didn’t over-power, he didn’t have good command of his breaking ball, but he competed,” Coach Jones said.

The offense woke up again in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough. The Green Wave were down by three, and only managed to plate one. As it was, there were some bright spots. Jeremy Schaffer hit an inside the park homerun, his fourth homerun in four games. It was also the fifth game in a row in which the Green Wave has scored five runs or more. Offensive arousal is a good sign, and with some pitchers coming back, and players like Konvicka giving good performances, all is not yet lost.