LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? For the second straight day, it took the University of New Orleans baseball team six innings to get going. And for the second time this weekend, the Privateers used an eight-run inning to take control.
UNO overcame a one-run deficit with eight runs in the eighth inning to take a 12-4 win at Arkansas-Little Rock on a picture-perfect Sunday at Gary Hogan Field.
Center fielder Ryan Eden had four hits, including a two-run single to put UNO ahead in the eighth, as the Privateers (38-13, 18-8 Sun Belt Conference) won its 13th straight.
Jeff Lanning went 3-for-5 and had a three-run home run in the eighth, while Mark McGonigle wrapped up a solid weekend with three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored.
The Privateers swept their third straight Sun Belt series and set a new school record with their ninth consecutive league win.
UNO, currently in first place in the Sun Belt standings, needs two victories next weekend at Louisiana-Lafayette to claim its first league regular season title since 2000.
“We started league play at 1-4 and now we control our own destiny,” said Privateer head coach Tom Walter, whose team has the longest current win streak in the nation. “That says a lot about how well these guys have played.
“At one point we looked like we might have to fight to make the tournament, and now these guys have a chance to win a title. We've got a lot of work in front of us, though.”
Right-hander Bryan Cryer (11-1) tossed seven innings and gave up three runs in getting the win. The senior struck out five and scattered seven hits.
Cryer kept UNO in it during the first five innings, as the Privateers could not solve UALR starter Ashur Tolliver.
Like starter David Klumpp on Saturday, the left-hander kept UNO off the board for the first five innings, and UALR right fielder Matt Apfel single-handedly gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead with an RBI single in the first and a solo home run in the fourth.
UNO finally got on the board in the sixth and tied it at 2-2 with a two-out RBI double by McGonigle and an RBI single by Michael Knipper.
The Trojans took the lead right back in the bottom of the sixth when Apfel tallied an RBI single up the middle to make it 3-2.
UNO, though, exploded in the eighth with its second eight-run inning of the weekend. The Privateers tied it when UALR third baseman Kody Kroll mishandled a McGonigle grounder ? allowing Lanning to score from second base.
Two batters later, Eden laced a single to right field to give UNO a 5-3 advantage. After an intentional walk and a strikeout, Josh Vander Hey came up with a key two-out, two-run single to make it 7-3.
Lanning then put the game away with an opposite-field, three-run home run to give UNO a commanding 10-3 advantage.
McGonigle added a two-run home run in the ninth, and Robert Taylor had a solo shot for the Trojans (13-32, 7-18) to end the scoring. Apfel finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
“It was definitely a carbon-copy of Saturday's game,” Walter said. “Our starting pitcher kept us in it, and we got some clutch hits late. UALR is an underrated team with some very talented guys ? particularly their left-handed pitchers. This is a very good sweep for us.”
UNO will play LSU in the Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Zephyr Field.
