HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? University of New Orleans head baseball coach Tom Walter made no secret about how much he wanted his Privateer squad to get a win on Tuesday at Southern Mississippi.
His intentions were established when he announced normal Friday starter Justin Garcia would take the bump, even though the right-hander was throwing on three days rest.
Garcia (6-0) made the move pay off on the mound, and the Privateer bats continued to stay hot as UNO took a 9-3 win over the 28th-ranked Golden Eagles at Pete Taylor Park.
Garcia, who threw 7 1/3 innings in a 5-2 win at Arkansas State on Friday, tossed six strong innings and struck out seven, and the Privateers scored six unanswered runs to help UNO (30-13) win its fifth straight.
UNO reliever Jake Henderson threw a season-high three innings to pick up his first career save.
T.J. Baxter went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run, and Ryan Eden had three hits and scored a pair of runs as the Privateers won at USM (31-14) for the first time since May 4, 2004. The Privateers, who had 25 hits in a 26-3 win at ASU on Sunday, had 14 hits.
They also recorded a home run for the 16th straight game.
The win helped UNO avenge an earlier loss to the Golden Eagles on March 12 at Maestri Field. The victory, however, was more than about revenge.
USM, which had a six-game win streak snapped, entered the game ranked as high as 14th in the various Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ratings ? a tool used heavily in determining NCAA Regional selections.
“It was a big game for us,” said Walter. “You need to have wins against top-50 RPI teams to be in consideration, and I was really thrilled with this effort tonight. I think it was our best game of the year.”
The Privateers jumped out to a 3-0 lead before USM's James Ewing tied the game at 3-3 in the third on a line-drive, three-run home run over the left-field wall.
But UNO answered with a three-run inning of its own in the fourth. The Privateers got three straight hits to start the frame off USM starter Seth Hester (2-1), including a key two-run double from Michael Knipper (2-for-4 on the night).
Knipper, who had three RBIs and two runs scored, broke out of an 0-for-19 slump.
“Anytime momentum swings back to the home team, you need to answer back,” Walter said. “We did a really good job in that inning, but the other key was Garcia coming back and throwing up zeros after we scored. He did that all day.”
USM recorded just two hits after the third inning.
The Privateers broke the game open in the seventh thanks to an opposite-field, two-run home run by Baxter. UNO added another run in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Josh Vander Hey.
“We had a lot of great unselfish at-bats today,” Walter said. “Justin Garcia was definitely the story tonight, but we were really good all the way around tonight.”
The Privateers will kick off their final homestand of the year at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, as UNO hosts Southern at Maestri Field.
