Having brought 11 baseball teams to paradise, Tulane coach Jay Uhlman knows about tonight’s difficulty in playing Hawaii in Manoa.
“I’ve coached a lot in Les Murakami Stadium,” Uhlman said of a 27-season career that included stints at Nevada, Kansas and Oregon. “And it doesn’t matter if Hawaii is good, bad or just OK. It’s a very difficult and challenging place to play. The fans are great. It’s loud. You’re in what a lot of people consider paradise, so there’s distractions and things like that.”
And as a palm reader, Uhlman warns his power hitters and outfielders about the stadium’s cross winds that knock down drives.
“The palm trees beyond the fence are all leaning toward the right,” Uhlman said of the wind power. “The building beyond right field over the (Heineken) tent? That building leans to the right, too.”
Uhlman, who was promoted from interim head coach at the end of the 2022 season, designed a schedule with a high degree of difficulty. The Green Wave opened the season with road games against UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, played against UCLA and USC in the Los Angeles College Classic, faced 16-3 Campbell in two mid-week games, and had a single meeting against Washington as a stopover en route to Hawaii.
“As long as it doesn’t kill us, it’s going to make us better,” said Uhlman, whose Green Wave started 3-15 before winning their last three. “Our record is not reflective of the quality of our team, but it is what it is.”
Uhlman crafted a schedule that would boost Tulane’s RPI in case the Green Wave do not win the American Athletic Conference Tournament and the automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals that comes with it.
“If we didn’t win the (AAC) tournament, I wanted to make sure that there was an RPI in place that would give us an opportunity if we can finish toward the top of the league,” Uhlman said. “It was all intended on putting us in the best position to get an at-large bid.”
Uhlman has had to rebuild a pitching staff that lost two of last season’s weekend starters. Left-hander Dylan Carmouche is the unfortunate ace. Despite pitching into the sixth inning in four of five starts, Carmouche is 0-4 with a 6.15 ERA. The Green Wave average 3.2 runs when Carmouche starts.
“We haven’t had the opportunity to give him enough run support,” Uhlman said. “He’s pitched into the sixth and seventh innings. He’s deserved better. He’s a competitor with a fastball, change, cutter, slider. Handles the running game well. We feel good when he’s on the mound.”
Saturday’s starter, Chandler Welch, is 2-1. Ricky Castro, a graduate transfer from Purdue, has solidified the role of Sunday starter with a 2-2 record and 3.81 ERA. Castro has not issued a walk in his past two starts. He averages 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
“Nothing really fazes him,” Uhlman said of Castro. “Just throws strikes and gives us a great chance on Sunday to either sweep, win the series, or avoid getting swept.”
In Wednesday’s 14-9 victory over Washington, the Green Wave amassed 17 hits, including seven doubles and three homers. This season, 36.9% of their hits have been for extra bases.
Ten months removed from undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right arm, designated hitter Jackson Linn leads Tulane with five home runs and 16 RBIs. But he averages a strikeout every 2.6 at-bats and is hitting .209. “He’s still working through that,” Uhlman said of Linn’s path to full recovery. “Jackson can run, he’s got power, he’s got bat speed. … He’s got a lot of talent. He’s got a chance to be a special kid.”
Shortstop Gavin Schultz is hitting .197 but has drawn 18 walks, been hit by pitches twice, and had an on-base streak of 12 games.
“He’s another guy who’s highly competitive,” Uhlman said. “He cares a great deal, probably at times too much, if there’s such a thing. He’s done a nice job at short for us. He’s a fiery kid. There’s more in the tank for him, too. He’s been a bright spot for us in terms of how he goes about doing his job.”
