Nothing tops a walk-off home run to win a conference tournament, but for Tulane’s Jackson Linn, Saturday night came close.

Starting for only the third time in March, he exited a massive slump with a majestic grand slam that sailed a few feet fair down the left field line to cap an eight-run fourth inning as the Green Wave overcame a 3-0 deficit and held on to beat Wichita State 8-6 at Turchin Stadium.

Tulane (16-7, 1-1) evened its opening American Athletic Conference series after Wichita State (8-14) appeared on the way to clinching it. The Shockers were the opponent when Linn sent Tulane into an NCAA regional with one swing last May, and this one could propel the Wave—and Linn—in the right direction after a recent stretch of poor play.

Despite getting only four hits for the second straight night, Tulane did enough to get a win it really needed. Linn, a senior who led the team with 16 homers last season but had one hit in his last 17 at-bats to drop to a miserable 6 of 40 (.150) for the year, may have needed it more.

He unloaded on a full-count pitch from reliever Jace Miner.

“He’s shown me all of his arm slots and all of his pitches, so I felt pretty comfortable,” he said. “He wasn’t going to beat me in that position. Luckily I stayed through it long enough to keep it straight.”

Tulane also received three clutch relief performances on a night in which it did next to nothing offensively except for the sole outburst, going three-up, three-down five times in the first seven innings. First, Will Clements pitched out of a 3-0 count with the bases loaded in the fourth to induce an infield pop-up to keep an early deficit at 3-0.

Then Tayler Montiel, who has yet to allow an earned run in 14 innings, survived a bizarre sixth when Andrew McKenna was called for catcher’s interference twice and allowed a passed ball as two unearned runs scored. Montiel threw 10 consecutive balls after McKenna’s first mistake, but he settled down to get a force-out at home plate on a soft bouncer from white-hot power hitter Josh Livingston in the midst of the chaos and strike out Lane Haworth to preserve an 8-6 lead.

“Something happened that can’t happen and I totally lost it,” Montiel said. “I really don’t have a reason for what exactly happened, but I just went back to the process and tried to make pitches. I was trying to leave the field with a lead, and that’s what I was able to do.”

Montiel (2-0) was awarded the win, pitching 2⅓ innings and notching his sixth strikeout before giving way to closer Michael Lombardi with one out in the eighth. Lombardi struck out Livingston, who had homered three times this weekend, to end the inning before tossing a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the Shockers .

“I felt good,” said Lombardi, who also scored a run as the starting first baseman. “I always have conviction in my stuff. It’s awesome just being able to contribute as much as I can on both sides.”

Tulane continued to struggle at the plate, with its batting average dropping to .234 for the last 16 games, but coming up big once was enough. The Shockers helped out by plunking four batters in the fourth, and Gavin Schulz tied the score with a one-out, two-RBI line-drive single to center field. Kaikea Harrison walked with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run, bringing up Linn, who was thrilled to see his name in the starting lineup.

“I’ve been chomping at the bit,” he said. “The last few at-bats I’ve felt more comfortable, so I was excited today to get an opportunity to keep going and help my team win in a bigger way than I have been.”

Coach Jay Uhlman inserted Linn because he saw signs of progress this week and thought the vibes of facing Wichita State again would be good. Linn made the last out in Friday’s 10-4 loss, but it was solid contact on a fly to center field.

No one was going to catch his first career grand slam.

“I want him to repeat the process, not the performance,” Uhlman said. “I can’t remember the last three-ball count he’s had, so that was good.”

Tulane starter Trey Cehajic threw 71 pitches, allowing three doubles and a triple before leaving with runners on first and second and no outs in the fourth. The bullpen took charge from there, with Wichita State’s only earned run coming on Livingston’s opposite-field homer off Clements leading off the fifth.

Tulane had been outscored 24-8 while losing to Lamar and Wichita State this week and appeared to be heading down that road again early.

“We needed this just because of the rut we were in,” Uhlman said. “I just said to them we’re not going to walk out of here feeling yucky because it didn’t feel right. The fact that we got that done and put ourselves in position for winner-takes-all on Sunday, that’s what you want.”

Carter Benbrook will make his first start of the year for the Wave in the rubber match in what likely will be a bullpen game.