UNO Game Notes - Liberty & LeMoyne
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The University of New Orleans baseball team will fly to Virginia today ahead of a four-game weekend tournament at Liberty over the weekend.
UNO (3-38) will open play with a game against LeMoyne (13-25) on Friday at 12 p.m. CT before challenging the host LU (22-19) at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Privateers will play LeMoyne again on Saturday at 6 p.m. while concluding their weekend stay on Sunday at 11 a.m. against the host Flames.
Live stats will be available for all four games with audio also available via LibertyFlames.com for contests against LU.
This weekend's meetings will be the first for UNO against both schools.
Though the schools have never met, the Privateers and fellow tournament entrant LeMoyne are similar in that they are playing their last full year as Division I member
The institutions are both in the midst of a transition to Division II with the Dolphins strictly moving their baseball program to join the remainder of their programs currently resides at the level. LeMoyne was unable to find a conference at the Division I level and no longer sought to use the rule that was recently vanquished by the NCAA that allowed schools to “play up” in as many as two sports.
UNO will start
Zach Kelt (1-8, 7.98) in Friday's game against the Dolphins with
Tyler Sanders (1-8, 8.68 ERA) receiving the nod for Saturday. LeMoyne counters with a pair of left-handed pitchers as Cory Nelson (0-4, 6.50 ERA) and Mark Kuzuma (2-5, 4.98 ERA) are the anticipated starters.
The Dolphins are led offensively by Brett Botsford's .326 batting average. Ryan Mahoney backs him up with a .297 batting average and a team-best six home runs.
The weekend rotation will round out as it did last week with the Privateers throwing
Nolan Church (0-2, 8.68 ERA) in Saturday's game against LU with
Scott Stonestreet (1-3, 7.34 ERA) taking the mound in Sunday's finale against the Flames. LU will send right-handed pitchers Keegan Linza (6-3, 2.67 ERA) and Mark Swanson (1-1, 7.71 ERA) against UNO.
The Flames have a pair of Breams – Doug and Tyler – on their roster. Tyler is the son of former Major Leaguer Sid Bream while Doug is his cousin. Doug is second on the LU roster with a .372 batting average and paces the team with 37 RBIs.
UNO will return to the Crescent City following the weekend to face Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday at Maestri Field before heading to McNeese State on Wednesday. Tickets for all remaining Privateer home games are available at TicketMaster.com or the Lakefront Arena Box Office.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (all times Central)
Friday, Apr. 29
UNO vs LeMoyne, 12 p.m.
LeMoyne at Liberty, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 30
UNO at Liberty, 2 p.m.
UNO vs LeMoyne, 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 1
UNO at Liberty, 11 a.m.
LeMoyne at Liberty, 2 p.m.
