Tulane opens spring ball with eyes on reclaiming American Conference crown

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Tulane is entering the 2026 campaign in unfamiliar territory. For the first time in three years, the Olive and Blue are not defending an American conference crown, coming up one game shy of three-peating as league winners last year. However, head coach Jay Uhlman and company are using the championship loss from 2025 as motivation heading into 2026.

“I actually thought about that, during alumni weekend, where we weren’t doing a ring presentation, so that that bothered me. we’re gonna do everything we can to get that day back and this part back, where we’re talking about defending it, but Clearwater’s our second home. We feel good there,” Uhlman said.

“It’s a big one. Obviously, we know what it feels like to get there, now three years in a row, so we kind of know what the recipe for success is so to speak. We’re a little bit far away from from Clearwater now, but just doing the things that we need to do each and every day to to get back to that spot and to have another opportunity to win a championship is always on the front of our mind,” senior outfielder James Agabedis added.

Now to get back to the mountaintop, the Olive and Blue must rely on new faces, with key players like Connor Rasmussen and Michael Lombardi going to the pro rankings. However, with 23 new faces compared to only 17 returners, the key veteran players on Tulane’s squad are already seeing progress with their new teammates.

“We have a bunch of talent coming out of the portal. I love the new guys. They’re amazing, talented and just great people all around. I’ve had to step up quite a bit. I had to show everybody the ropes and how things work around here, but it’s a learning process through everything. It’s just been great,” sophomore outfielder Tanner Chun added.

“All of us are just great kids, and we all just want to work hard each and every day for each other, and I think the chemistry of the team has grown a lot in just the first few months of the fall that I’ve seen. We’re all kind of just one cohesive unit right now, and we’re looking to bring that into the spring,” Agabedis finished.

The Green Wave have less than a month to finish gelling as a team.

Tulane’s season opener is February 13th at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

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