Tulane Green Wave Advance in AAC Tournament Behind Strong Start from Closer

It has been a strong year from the Tulane Green Wave baseball program, and head coach Jay Uhlman's boys are one step closer to an American Athletic Conference championship after their victory on Tuesday.

The Green Wave drew the fifth seed in the conference tournament and kicked things off in Clearwater, Fla. with a contest against the Florida Atlantic Owls.

In the regular season, Tulane did not have much success against the Owls, going just 1-2 in their weekend series at Greer Field. But that turned around on Tuesday.

Behind a strong start from Michael Lombardi, who has primarily served as the team's closer this year, the Green Wave knocked off Florida Atlantic, 6-3, advancing to the next round of the AAC Tournament.

Michael Lombardi Leads Tulane to Victory Over Florida Atlantic

Lombardi, a two-way player who can also man center field, has been on a tear on the mound of late. The junior has 11 saves on the year and has had a stellar performance on the mound throughout this campaign.

That was no different on Tuesday, as the young righty pitched seven strong innings, allowing only one run on two hits and two walks while striking out 11.

The performance lowered his ERA on the season to 2.84, and he now holds a career-high 67 strikeouts.

Offensively, Tulane's bats came alive early.

After falling behind 1-0 in the second inning, Gavin Schulz evened the odds in the third with an RBI triple, scoring Tanner Chun. The Green Wave scored four more runs across the fourth and fifth innings, taking a lead they did not surrender.

A big development came in the top of the ninth.

With none out, freshman outfielder Jason Wachs came to the plate, looking to end his 0-for-4 performance with a hit in his first college tournament action. Not known for his power, the freshman phenom took the first pitch he saw over the wall in right center field, putting his first career home run at the college level on the board to give his team a 6-1 lead.

With the victory, Tulane now gears up to face the No. 1 seed on Thursday; the UTSA Roadrunners.

The teams faced each other in San Antonio back in April, with the Roadrunners winning two of three.