NEW ORLEANS ? The University of New Orleans baseball team got good pitching and defense in a 6-4 win over Vermont on Friday at Maestri Field.
Stephen Whalen (1-0) tossed six innings and struck out nine, and Ryan O'Shea pitched a perfect ninth to get his second save as UNO (3-2) won its home opener for the third straight season.
UNO catcher Josh Vander Hey had two hits and two RBIs, including a solo home run, and right fielder Mark McGonigle added a pair of hits and two RBIs. Johnny Giavotella also added two hits.
Joe Serafin (0-1) got the loss for Vermont, which was making its season debut. The Catamounts got three hits and an RBI from catcher Jeff Nolet, and Justin Milo and Matt Duffy each added two hits.
“We got good pitching tonight and played an error-free game, so we are happy with that,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “(Serafin) is one of the best lefties we'll see this year, and we did a good job of running up his pitch count.”
The Privateers got two runs in their first at-bat to take quick control. A leadoff walk to Ryan Eden and a single from T.J. Baxter put runners on first and second with one out. Johnny Giavotella's grounder to short was mishandled, allowing Eden to score.
After a strikeout, Vander Hey walked, and McGonigle made it 2-0 with an RBI single to left field, though Milo prevented further damage by throwing out Giavotella at the plate.
UVM got a run in the second, but the Privateers answered with two runs in the third to make it 4-1. The two teams exchanged runs in the fifth before UNO stretched the lead to 6-2 on Vander Hey's third home run of the year in the bottom of the seventh.
The Catamounts got two runs off UNO reliever Tyler Sanders to make it 6-4 in the eighth, but O'Shea struck out the first two batters in the ninth and got Kyle Henry to ground out to second to end it.
“We did a pretty good job overall tonight,” Walter said. “I was a little disappointed that we didn't take advantage of their bullpen a little better, but we'll take the win.”
The two teams will continue the series with a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
