NEW ORLEANS ? Joey Butler had four hits ? including a school-record-tying two triples ? and Nick Schwaner had two home runs and five RBIs as the University of New Orleans baseball team took a 19-14 win over Florida International on Friday at Maestri Field.
Butler, who has at least three hits in each of his last four games, had two RBIs and scored two runs. He was part of a 17-hit attack by UNO, which snapped a six-game regular season losing streak to FIU (12-28, 5-11 Sun Belt Conference).
Every starter had at least one hit for UNO (24-12, 8-7), and the Privateers scored at least three runs in four different innings. Johnny Giavotella went 2-for-6 with a home run and five RBIs, and Josh Vander Hey and Jeff Lanning each had two hits. The Privateers also had five home runs.
UNO right-hander Justin Garcia (4-0) got the win despite allowing 11 hits and six runs in six innings. The senior from Violet, La., did strike out seven.
Steven Stewart (0-6) got the loss after giving up four hits and six runs in an inning of work.
The two teams, which had to wait out a 35-minute rain delay in the seventh inning and a 20-minute delay in the eighth, combined for 36 hits.
“FIU has really handled our pitching the last two years,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter, whose program got its first regular season win against FIU since his first season on the Lakefront in 2005.
“We knew it wasn't going to be a 3-2 game. It was good to see us answer them early with three runs in the first, and we scored eight runs in our last three at-bats, which was huge. We needed every one of them.”
The Privateers scored 11 runs in the first three innings, including a five-spot in the second. Down 2-0 in the first, T.J. Baxter got UNO on the board with a two-run home run, and Lanning gave the Privateers a 3-2 lead with an RBI single that plated Butler.
After FIU tied it at 3-3 in the second, the Privateers raced out to an 8-3 advantage thanks to a two-run double by Schwaner and a three-run homer by Giavotella.
UNO scored three more in the third to make it 11-3 before the Golden Panthers cut it to 11-6 thanks to a three-run rally in the fourth.
The Privateers, though, put it away with a six-run seventh. UNO got a solo home run by Lanning, a two-run double from Giavotella, an RBI triple by Butler and an RBI single by Vander Hey.
FIU's Ryan Mollica had a career-high six hits and had five RBIs ? extending his hitting streak to 23 games. Jorge Castillo tallied three hits and three RBIs.
The two teams will continue the series at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised live on Cox Sports Television.
