Tulane Ends UConn Baseball’s Conference Streak

UConn Baseball’s six-game conference winning streak came to an end on Thursday at Turchin Field in New Orleans, as the Tulane Green Wave got the best of the Huskies, 8-3.

Tim Cate had a rocky start but was not helped by his defense. He threw five innings, allowing eight runs, only three of which were earned, on eight huts. He struck out five and walked two.

Third baseman Willy Yahn (2-for-4), left fielder John Toppa (2-for-2) and his replacement Troy Stefanski (2-for-2) each had multiple hits, while second baseman Jack Lambrecht had two RBI.

UConn got a run in the second courtesy of a single by center fielder Keith Krueger, but on the ensuing single by shortstop Anthony Prato, he took too sharp of a turn around second and was tagged out trying to get back to the bag.

As the game progressed into the middle stages, the Huskies had chances, as they left at least one runner on in each of their first six at-bats, but the only run came from Krueger.

In the bottom of the third, Tulane took advantage of some good fortune to score seven runs and effectively put it away, when it should have been four or fewer.

Hunter Williams gave the Green Wave the lead with a two-run single and after a strikeout, the flood gates opened.

Cate loaded the bases with a walk and Grant Brown reached when third baseman Willy Yahn took a hard bouncing ball off of his chest and took an error.

Jake Willsey appeared to end the inning with a popup just into the outfield, but it fell harmlessly to the turf when shortstop Anthony Prato lost it in the lights. It cleared the bases and Willsey came around to score from second when Paul Gozzo singled.

Tulane sent 11 men to the plate and they got five hits to take a 7-1 lead.

They added another in the fifth when Hunter Hope hit a tape-measure shot over the left field wall when Cate grooved a fastball for an 8-1 advantage.

The Huskies got two runs in the eighth on a double by Lambrecht, but it was not enough to complete a comeback.

UConn (19-12, 6-1) and Tulane resume their series on Friday at 7:30 p.m. with Wills Montgomerie on the mound for the Huskies.