Wave winds down baseball season

Visitors will be crowding onto the Tulane uptown campus next week to celebrate commencement, with a busy calendar of receptions and ceremonies. Meanwhile, different celebrations will take place on the other end of campus: the last regular-season home games for the Green Wave baseball team.

The final home games are on May 17, 18 and 19 against Conference USA opponent Marshall University.

First pitch for the important conference games will be at 6:30 p.m. on May 17 and 18. Saturday, May 19, is the pinnacle day — the Tulane Unified Commencement Ceremony takes place that morning in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, while Turchin Stadium hosts the final baseball game at 1 p.m.

But first, Tulane has a major hurdle on the road this coming weekend, playing at the University of Houston on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 11, 12 and 13).

The Green Wave is 10-8 in C-USA right now, sitting in fourth place, with a 33-16 overall record. The team will be heading to postseason play at the C-USA Championships on May 23–27 in Jackson, Miss. The tournament winner gains the league's automatic bid to NCAA postseason play.

Head Coach Rick Jones is hoping the team will keep its momentum from last weekend's sweep of a three-game series with the University of Southern Mississippi.

“The reason we have 33 wins right now is because we are a little bit more experienced (all around). Our pitching's been better, both in our starting and relief roles, because we're healthy, and we have more depth,” Jones said.

Hitters like junior Brandon Boudreaux also make a difference. Boudreaux just earned his third C-USA Hitter of the Week honor, as he had the first five-hit game of his career, hit .529, drove in six runs and scored four times.

Ticket information is available online, at the ticket office in the Wilson Center or by calling 504-861-WAVE.