With the wind blowing in, Tulane and Memphis knew they were not going to get any cheap home runs on Saturday at Fogelman Field in Memphis, Tennessee.

There definitely was nothing cheap about Theo Bryant’s leadoff blast in the fourth inning. He sent a hanging breaking ball over the wall in left field, and the Green Wave pitchers made it stand up all the way in a series-clinching shutout.

“He hit that, and I went, ‘Not today,’ ” Tulane coach Jay Uhlman said. “They kept going back and I was like, ‘Oh, it is’ (going out). The park played big, so that was big.”

The Wave tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning before closer Michael Lombardi finished off the 3-0 win for his second save in as many days and his American Athletic Conference-leading 11th.

Tulane (30-20, 13-10 AAC), which clinched a spot in the eight-team league tournament on Friday, moved into sole possession of fourth place , a game behind second-place South Florida and Charlotte.

Memphis (20-30, 7-16) remained in a three-way tie for last with UAB and Wichita State. Only one of them will advance to the tournament.

The key play Saturday came after a season-long sixth-inning hex on starting pitcher Trey Cehajic continued. For the third time, he blanked an opponent through five innings, and just as in the previous two occasions, he could not get an out in the sixth.

A bounced throw across the diamond by third baseman Gavin Schulz resulted in a leadoff infield single for Memphis. A line-drive single and a four-pitch walk loaded the bases, prompting Cehajic’s exit in favor of Carter Benbrook.

On Benbrook’s second pitch, first baseman Matthias Haas snagged a line drive ripped right at him and dove to put his glove on first base for a double play. If Haas had not been playing close to the bag in a shift for left-handed pull-hitter Chase Nixon, it would have been a go-ahead hit.

“That was huge,” Uhlman said. “Huge.”

After walking the next batter intentionally to load the bases again, Benbrook struck out Michael Politte to end the threat.

That was the biggest escape but not the only one for Tulane pitchers, who limited Memphis hitters to 2 for 15 with runners on base.

Cehajic (5-2), who struck out seven, set the tone by inducing a tailor-made double play hit right to second baseman Connor Rasmussen after yielding a leadoff single in the first inning.

“Trey pitched tremendously,” Uhlman said. “His slider was on, and he gave us a really good outing. He weathered a few storms and made some really big pitches when he had to. He dominated the bottom of the lineup, which limited their ability to have guys on for the guys at the top.”

Benbrook coaxed a soft grounder in the seventh after giving up a two-out double for the Tigers’ only extra-base hit.

Tayler Montiel recorded three easy outs on four pitches around a single in the eighth.

Lombardi, who was not as sharp as he was in a dominant 10-pitch, three-strikeout performance on Friday , still was plenty good enough to preserve Tulane’s second shutout and first since Feb. 22 against Loyola Marymount. After walking a batter and surrendering a hit, he retired three in a row, throwing a nasty breaking ball that dropped off the table for the second out and ending it when Cade Greer could not check his swing on a high fastball.

The Wave provided Lombardi some breathing room when freshman Jason Wachs bunted in a run for his third hit of the day and sixth of the series, placing it perfectly down the first-base line. Two batters later, Rasmussen checked his swing on a high pitch, walking in a run.

“He (Wachs) has grown up before our eyes,” Uhlman said. “The first two at-bats, he struck out. Earlier in the year, that 0 for 2 would have been 0 for 5, and instead it was a 3 for 5.”

Blaise Wilcenski (5-3), who pitched 7⅓ shutout innings over two appearances last week, will start Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. finale as Tulane goes for the sweep.