UNO vs Temple
Live Stats · @UNOPrivateers (Twitter)
NEW ORLEANS – A four-game weekend home series against Temple awaits the University of New Orleans, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Maestri Field.
The two teams will play a Saturday doubleheader at 2 p.m. before concluding the weekend on Sunday at 1 p.m. All four games will have live stats available on UNOPrivateers.com.
Pitching will be critical this weekend for UNO (3-33) and Temple (17-16) with four nine-inning games on tap in three days. The Privateers are not strangers to the concept, having played a weekend similar to this at San Diego earlier this month with one more four-game weekend on schedule for next weekend.
Zach Kelt (1-7, 8.10 ERA) will lead off the weekend's starting pitching for UNO on Friday night.
Tyler Sanders (1-8, 9.25 ERA) and Nolan Church (0-1, 7.36 ERA) will follow suit on Saturday with Scott Stonestreet (1-1, 6.75) appearing on Sunday.
Sanders will look to duplicate his outing from last week's pitching duel against No. 25 Southern Miss while Church will make his first collegiate start for the Privateers. Church is the only member of the roster who has appeared in all 36 games this year.
In addition to at least 36 innings of work on the mound, UNO's pitching staff will challenge a TU offense that ranks second in the country in batting average (.343), third in scoring (8.6 runs per contest) and fourth in slugging percentage (.493).
Ryan Ferguson is the top hitter in the Owls' lineup with team-highs of eight home runs and a .380 batting average. Steve Nikorak adds a .379 batting average with five home runs while also doubling as one the team's pitchers.
On the mound, TU will counter the Privateers with Ben White (3-6, 5.55 ERA) on Friday with Brant Norlander (3-2, 4.99 ERA) and Tyler Horst (0-0, 6.27 ERA) getting starts during Saturday's doubleheader. Nikorak (3-4, 7.98 ERA) rounds out the Owls' rotation on Sunday.
UNO will hit the road following the series for a pair of mid-week contests against South Alabama and Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Both games begin at 6 p.m.
