Junior catcher Miguel Useche singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as UNO beat Tulane 6-5 in the first game of the Pelican Cup on Wednesday night at Turchin Stadium.

The Privateers, who had seen a two-run lead disappear in the bottom of the eighth, took advantage of wildness by Tulane reliever Teo Banks, who was making his first appearance of the year on the mound. Eight of Banks’ 10 pitches were balls, and one of the two that counted as a strike was a failed bunt out of the zone.

Banks exited in favor of Chandler Welch with a runner on second and one out. After Tyler Bischke grounded out, Useche delivered the big hit for UNO, making solid contact on a cutter and going the opposite way between first and second base. 

"Both teams played pretty well," UNO coach Blake Dean said. "They competed and we competed. That was a great piece of hitting (by Useche) after striking out three times."

The Privateers (4-4) evened their record while snapping a two-game skid at Turchin Stadium. Struggling Tulane (1-8) lost its fourth one-run game of the season.

The Green Wave, which was limited to one infield single after scoring three runs in the third, ended that drought with one swing of the bat by sophomore Jackson Linn in the eighth.

Facing UNO reliever Noah Daniel after Brennan Lambert walked to lead off the inning, Linn hit a towering fly ball that cleared the wall just to the left of the 400-foot sign in straightaway center field. It was the type of blast he and the entire team had been waiting for in a series of frustrating losses to start the year.

Yet, it was not enough. Trailing 5-3, the Wave missed a huge opportunity in the seventh inning when Jared Hart ran from third base on contact as instructed with one out and the ball went directly to third baseman Jeissy De La Cruz, who threw him out with room to spare at home plate.

"How many one-run games is this?" Linn said. "It's frustrating at this point. It's just one little mistake or one inning that beats us."

UNO struck first on an RBI double by Kasten Furr in the third before Tulane responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to some help from the Privateers defense. UNO could not do anything about Simon Baumgardt’s leadoff home run to left that got out in a hurry, but starter Beau Blanchard proceeded to hit Michael Lombardi and throw wildly to first on a bunt by Hart, putting runners at second and third. Lombardi scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, and Brady Hebert singled in Hart.

The lead did not last long. De La Cruz crushed a two-run homer to straightaway center field off reliever Grant Cleavinger to tie it at 3-3 with one out in the top of the fourth inning. Tristan Moore put the Privateers ahead 4-3 with a two-out, RBI single in the fifth.

UNO extended its lead to 5-3 on nine-hole hitter Issac Williams’ line-drive shot over the wall in left field in the seventh, setting up the late-inning dramatics.

Six Privateers pitchers combined to give up five hits, with Colton Mercer striking out four in 2 2/3 innings of relief. 

"We're still trying to figure out who our guys are and who to trust," Dean said. "It was a good night."

Eight Tulane pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts, but Cleavinger got hit hard and Banks, who was left out of the lineup because of his early-season struggles with the bat, could not find the strike zone. 

"It hasn't been great for him offensively, but we had planned to get an inning from him," coach Jay Uhlman said. "The ball came out well but he was maybe a little rusty." 

Tulane flies to California Thurday to prepare for three games in Los Angeles against UCLA, USC and Sacramento State. 

UNO hosts Brown in a weekend series.

The Privateers and Wave will meet again on March 29 at Turchin Stadium and will play at Maestri Field on April 18.