Tulane Green Wave
Overall Rank: #36
Conference Rank: #3 American
Tulane finished last season with 41 wins and a trip to the Regional Final of the Oxford Regional, where they fell to Boston College with a trip to the Super Regionals on the line. The Green Wave should be able to build off that success in 2017. Emerson Gibbs is gone after posting a 2.61 ERA and going 6-4. He was the team’s workhorse. However, Ross Massey, J.P. France and Corey Merrill return and are a great trio to build the pitching staff around.
2016: 41-21, 15-7
2016 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Travis Jewett
Key Departed Players:
Emerson Gibbs, P, 2.61 ERA, 110.1 IP, 88 SO
Alex Massey, P, 4.22 ERA, 81.0 IP, 71 SO
Stephen Alemais, .311 BA, 1 HR, 28 RBI
Jake Rogers, .261 BA, 7 HR, 28 RBI
Key Returning Players:
J.P. France, P, 3.33 ERA, 75.2 IP, 67 SO
Ross Massey, 2.29 ERA, 90.1 IP, 51 SO
Corey Merrill, P, 2.05 ERA, 52.2 IP, 63 SO
Jeremy Montalbano, C, .269 BA, 12 HR, 45 RBI
Lex Kaplan, OF, .253 BA, 4 HR, 34 RBI
Hunter Hope, IF, .267 BA, 14 HR, 36 RBI
Grant Witherspoon, OF, .270 BA, 3 HR, 25 RBI
Jake Willsey, IF, .265 BA, 10 HR, 31 RBI
Projection:
The Green Wave ranked 13th in the country in home runs in 2016 and return much of that power. Hunter Hope led the way with 14 long balls, while Jeremy Montalbano added a dozen and Jake Willsey ten more. The potential concern on offense is getting enough players on base for those three to drive in runs on a consistent basis. Stephen Alemais, who easily led the team with a .311 batting average in 2016, is gone and the Green Wave will not easily be able to find somebody who can get on base as consistently as he did. With much of the lineup returning though, this is now a very experienced team that should collectively be able to replace the production of Alemais without too much trouble. That should result not in just another NCAA Tournament appearance, but a team that has the tools to do some damage once they get there.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
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