LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? It took the University of New Orleans baseball team a while to get going, but the Privateers continue to find ways to win.
Reserve Nick Mitchell got a pinch-hit, RBI double in the seventh inning, and the Privateers broke open a 3-3 tie with three runs in the eighth as UNO picked up a 6-3 victory at Arkansas-Little Rock on an overcast Saturday at Gary Hogan Field.
Mitchell finished with two RBIs, and Johnny Giavotella and Ryan Eden each had two hits to help the Privateers (37-13, 17-8 Sun Belt Conference) win their 12th straight game.
Jake Henderson (6-1) worked around some control issues to claim his third decision in the last seven days. Ryan O'Shea got the final four outs to record his 12th save.
The Privateers moved into a first-place tie in the Sun Belt standings thanks to Louisiana-Monroe falling for the second straight day to Troy.
“We've said it a few times, but to win in the postseason, you have to get games like this,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “You're not going to score 10 runs every ball game. Today we did it with defense, pitching and situational hitting.”
For the first five innings, things did not look good for the visitors. UALR starter David Klumpp gave up just one hit in the first five frames and sat down 15 straight batters at one point.
UALR (13-31, 7-17) picked up two runs in the fourth off UNO starter Justin Garcia (5 2/3 innings, two runs allowed) with a successful safety-squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly.
But the Privateers finally got a run across in the sixth when Eden got an infield single to score Mark McGonigle ? who led off the inning with a double.
Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, UNO got a one-out single from Joey Butler before Walter went to Mitchell to pinch-hit for left-hander Nick Schwaner against the lefty Klumpp.
The move paid off, as Mitchell ripped a line drive off the left-field wall. Butler scored from first, and Mitchell advanced to third on the throw home. He later scored, giving UNO its first lead, on an RBI groundout by Jeff Lanning.
“That was just a great job by Mitch of staying focused and having a great at-bat,” Walter said. “He went up there with a plan, and he got a pitch he could handle.”
UALR tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Robert Taylor before UNO took the lead for good in the eighth.
The Privateers loaded the bases with nobody out, and T.J. Baxter hit a line drive that was fielded on a diving play by UALR third baseman Kody Kroll. But Kroll tried to get Josh Vander Hey at second base and threw the ball into right field.
Giavotella scored on the error, and Vander Hey later scored on a sacrifice fly from Mitchell.
O'Shea struck out two of the four batters he faced to help UNO clinch its seventh straight Sun Belt series for the first time in school history.
“Our bullpen the last 20 games or so has been outstanding,” Walter said. “When it is bullpen against bullpen, I like our chances particularly when you put our offense against another team's pen.”
Clay Rominger (0-2) took the loss for the Trojans, who were held to just five hits on the day.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
