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Four Tulane Baseball Players Named To Perfect Game's Preseason All-AAC Team

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Baseball

Tulane's baseball team saw four players named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Conference in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), the baseball publication announced earlier this week.

Earning a spot on Perfect Game's Preseason All-AAC Team this season is Luc Fladda (starting pitcher), Gavin Schulz (third base), Jackson Linn (designated hitter) and Michael Lombardi (utility).

Fladda went 5-3 last season with a 4.77 ERA. He appeared in 18 games with 15 starts while throwing 83 innings and 61 strikeouts. He placed second on the team in innings pitched and tied for second in victories. Fladda placed fourth in the AAC in games started. He was previously named Preseason All-AAC by the league's coaches.

Schulz hit .303 with 48 runs, 71 hits, 13 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 51 RBIs, 121 total bases, a .517 slugging, 23 walks and seven stolen bases on his was to being a First Team All-AAC selection in 2024. He ranked second on the team in hits and tied for second in RBIs. He was previously named Preseason All-AAC by the league's coaches.

Linn hit .299 with 40 runs, 56 hits, 13 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs, 45 RBIs, 123 total bases, a .658 slugging percentage and seven stolen bases in 2024. He led the team and the league in home runs and slugging percentage last season. He also was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2024 AAC Tournament Championship after hitting the walk-off home run to clinch the program's second consecutive championship and berth into the NCAA Regional.

Lombardi was a two-way player for the program last season in hitting .277 with 39 hits, 25 runs scored, seven doubles, two home runs, 26 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .380 while playing in 50 games. On the mound, Lombardi went 4-3 with a 3.89 ERA, a save and 53 strikeouts in 41.1 innings pitched while limiting opponents to a .189 batting average against in earning Second Team All-AAC honors.

Tulane's baseball team, in a vote of the league's coaches, was picked for third overall with 63 points in the Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Tulane is fresh off a second straight NCAA Regional, 36 wins, and becoming the first program in AAC history to win back-to-back tournament championships (which includes 6 straight AAC tournament wins). The historic year over year turnaround was the first time since 1998-99 that the program has been back-to-back champions. Tulane has been to consecutive trips to the regionals for the first time since 2015-16. A win in the Corvallis Regional secured Tulane's first victory in a regional since 2016. Additionally, the program won nine weekend series, won the Pelican Cup, earned an 8-4 record against teams in Louisiana, had five all conference players with four more being selected in the June MLB draft. The four drafted players were good for third-most by a non-power conference school.

The team starts the 2025 season taking on Omaha in a home three-game series starting on Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. The schedule will feature thirty-five home games in Greer Field at Turchin Stadium while only going on the road for twenty-one games. Tulane is set to visit a total of six different states this season with games in California, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. This schedule will also include 2024 NCAA Tournament participants Nicholls, Southern Miss, and East Carolina.