Friday, April 10
New Orleans, La.
7:30 P.M.
East Carolina University
at
Tulane
Pirates Head to New Orleans to Take on Tulane
April 09, 2026 | Baseball
| Games 35-37: East Carolina Pirates (21-12-1, 6-3 American) at Tulane Green Wave (17-17, 4-5 American) | |
| Coverage | April 10th: 7:30 p.m. EST \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch April 11th: 7:30 p.m. EST \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch April 12 th: 2:00 p.m. EST \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 94.3 The Game (Dylan Johnson) |
| Location: | New Orleans, Louisiana | Greer Field at Turchin Stadium (5,000) |
| Official Websites: | East Carolina | Tulane |
| Game Notes: | East Carolina | Tulane |
| Statistics: | East Carolina | Tulane |
| Baseball Central: | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media: | ECUBaseball (X) | ecu_baseball (Instagram) | East Carolina Baseball (Facebook) |
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The East Carolina Pirates (21-12-1, 6-3 American) make their way to Louisiana this weekend to take on the Tulane Green Wave (17-17, 4-5 American) at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. This weekend marks the second away conference series that the Pirates will embark on out of four away series in the 2026 season.
PROBABLE WEEKEND STARTING ROTATION
Friday: #43 LHP Luke Payne vs. #99 RHP Trey Cehajic
Saturday: #18 LHP Ethan Norby vs. #37 LHP Jake Toporek
Sunday: TBA vs. TBA
STARTING APRIL UNDEFEATED
It may be true that once the weather gets warmer, the Pirates get hot. East Carolina opened their April hosting their second home conference series of the season, sweeping Charlotte with two blowout run rules and a come-from-behind victory. Â
The opening game of the series on Thursday started with Charlotte opening with one run, but the Pirates responded with overwhelming insurance. Earning six runs at the bottom of the second, the Pirates never looked back. Charlotte was able to snag two with a home run and a sacrifice fly, but the Pirates were too overwhelming for the 49ers. Davin Whitaker let the Pirates go 2-for-4 with a season high of five RBIs on the day, as well as hitting the fifth home run of his career. On the mound, Luke Payne gave a career-defining outing with his first career start and career win, and had his longest outing with 4.0 innings and six strikeouts on the day.Â
Friday was a different story for the Pirates, but it ended in the same manner. The day was slow for the Pirates, giving Charlotte the lead in the first, and letting the 49ers rack up a five-run lead. East Carolina could not respond until the fifth inning, when the game blew wide open. The Pirates were able to score 10+ runs in the last four innings of the game and shut the door on Charlotte 12-9. The top of the lineup gave a performance for the Pirates, with the first four batters accounting for seven of the 12 runs and nine of the 17 hits. The Pirates kept chipping away throughout the late innings, when Walker Barron and Matt Lashley were both able to come up with back-to-back two-out home runs to tie the game. Alex Bouche came to close the door at the bottom of the eighth, sending a two-run homer into right field to solidify the comeback. Ethan Rose aided in relief and garnered the win for the Pirates, going to 2.0 innings of work, giving up no runs and three strikeouts, holding the 49ers to one hit. Â
Saturday's finale of the series was almost a record-breaking performance for the Pirates. With shutting down the 49ers in the first, the Pirates totaled 11 runs in the first inning, just one run short of tying the program record for runs in one inning at 12. The entirety of the starting lineup was able to score at least once, with Jack Herring, Davin Whitaker, and Braden Burress accounting for two runs in the first. Whitaker had a day going 3-for-5 with four RBI, Herring and Burress both putting one deep over the wall, with eight of the starters notching at least one hit on the day. Joseph Webb also had his first career start, also garnering the win, going 3.0 innings, only allowing one run and four hits on the day. Â
With the conference sweep, East Carolina currently sits in third place in the conference standings, with UAB one game ahead at 7-2, and UTSA currently sharing a conference record with the Pirates at 6-3. Â
BEATING THE BLUE DEVILS
The Pirates held a five-game homestand with their finale ending with in-state rivals, Duke. The last time East Carolina faced the Blue Devils was in Durham in late March, when Duke walked off the Pirates with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. Â
The Pirates came into the midweek with winning on their mind, but were able to channel that at Clark LeClair Stadium. The Pirates responded early in the first, with Burress leading the game with his second home run of the week. The Pirates kept chipping away throughout the early and middle innings, with two RBI doubles in the third and fifth to build the lead. Duke came close in the later innings but was unable to overcome Pirate pitching. Â
Starter Ryan Towers had a solid outing. He went 5.2 innings, gave up no hits, and had five strikeouts for his third win. Sean Jenkins closed the game with 2.0 innings. He shut out the Blue Devils and secured his fifth save of the season by retiring the final out. Â
TOUCHING BASE
Jack Herring is currently on a 32-game on-base streak for the Pirates, now being one of 18 Pirates to have reached base in at least 30 games since 1998. Herring has been able to reach base safely in every game he has started this season, with 33. Herring is currently tied with Warran Gaspar at 33, the longest on-base streak the Pirates hold is 56, held by Connor Norby from March 1, 2020, to May 20, 2021.Â
LAST TIME IN NEW ORLEANS
The East Carolina baseball team's last trip to New Orleans in May 2024 resulted in a difficult three-game sweep at the hands of Tulane, concluding with a heartbreaking 10-9 extra-inning loss at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Despite the effort in the series finale, the Pirates could not overcome a high-powered Green Wave offense that utilized four home runs to clinch the victory in the 10th inning. Earlier this weekend, ECU dropped a 7-3 decision on Saturday night despite multi-hit performances from Carter Cunningham and Jacob Starling, as Tulane solidified the series' win by capitalizing on a late surge of power hitting. The weekend marked the first time the Pirates had been swept in New Orleans since 2005.Â
ABOUT TULANE
The Tulane Green Wave baseball team currently holds a 17–17 overall record through the first 34 games of the 2026 season, including a 4–5 mark in American Conference play. The team has shown significant power at the plate, leading the league in doubles with 73 and walks with 192, while also ranking among the top three in stolen bases and ERA. Offensively, outfielder Jason Wachs has been a standout performer, recently extending an impressive 60-game on-base streak that dates back to the end of last season. Â
The first pitch in New Orleans on Friday, April 10, is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.Â
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