BATON ROUGE, La. ? The University of New Orleans scored two runs in the top of the ninth to steal an 8-6 win at LSU on Wednesday at Alex Box Stadium.
The Privateers went ahead on a two-out error by LSU second baseman Ryan Schimpf, and the UNO bullpen did the rest as the Privateers (14-8) defeated an SEC school for the third time in nine days.
Nick Schwaner went 2-for-4, including a key two-run single in the seventh inning, and Johnny Giavotella had two hits and scored three runs to help UNO to its sixth win in seven outings.
T.J. Baxter, Joey Butler and Jeff Lanning all had two hits each, and Baxter scored two runs ? including the eventual game-winner in the ninth.
The UNO bullpen, which has struggled during parts of the early season, was huge. David Burch (2-0) tossed three scoreless innings to keep UNO in it, and Ryan O'Shea threw a scoreless ninth to record his fifth save.
The win marked UNO's first at Alex Box Stadium since April 22, 1997 and snapped a 10-game losing skid in Baton Rouge.
“Our bullpen was the reason we won this game,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “David Burch, Cory Myers, Ryan O'Shea ? they were all outstanding. Burch came in and put up three zeroes, and Ryan O'Shea did a good job bouncing back from a tough outing against South Alabama on Sunday.”
Daniel Bradshaw (1-2) took the loss for LSU (15-8). Blake Dean went 3-for-5 with an RBI, and Derek Helenihi and Leon Landry each had two hits.
UNO played from behind from the beginning. LSU plated two runs in the first and led 3-1 after two innings. The Privateers hung around with single runs in four straight innings and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth thanks to a sacrifice fly RBI from Baxter.
But the Tigers fought back with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame to make it 6-4. Schwaner, though, tied the game in the seventh with a two-out, two-run single.
In the ninth, Baxter got a two-out rally started with a bloop double down the left-field line. After Giavotella walked, Schwaner hit a ground ball to second, but Schimpf threw the ball in the dirt, and LSU first baseman Matt Clark was unable to hold it ? allowing Baxter to score.
Josh Vander Hey added an insurance run with an RBI single, and O'Shea sat down LSU in order in the ninth.
“We really struggled to get the big hit early in the game, and then Schwaner comes up big to tie the game,” Walter said. “This was a big win for us for many reasons. We will need Burch and O'Shea to be the guys for us in conference play, and this is obviously big for their confidence.”
The two teams combined to use 11 pitchers overall.
UNO will get back into Sun Belt Conference play this weekend, traveling to Troy for a three-game series starting on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
