MANHATTAN, Kan. – The University of New Orleans baseball team will play the final three games of a school-record 37 road contests when it plays Big 12 foe Kansas State this weekend.
The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will have live stats, audio and video available on the KStateSports.com web site.
UNO (3-44) returns to the field this weekend after a nine-day break for spring semester final exams.
Prior to the hiatus, the Privateers had dropped 15 straight contests dating back to a 5-4 win in 10 innings on Apr. 10 against Alabama A&M. The skid is the second-longest on all-time behind a 24-game losing streak earlier this season.
UNO is led offensively by Nolan Church, who is the team leader with four home runs and 22 RBIs. Church also tops the team in slugging percentage (.363) and defensively has posted the highest field percentage amongst regulars with a .987 mark.
Cameron Wheeless, who has missed the last 13 games, ranks as the top hitter with a .264 batting average while Zach Pohto carries a team-leading eight-game hitting streak into the weekend.
On the mound, UNO will start Tyler Sanders (1-9, 8.42 ERA) on Friday with Church (0-3, 5.71 ERA) and Zach Kelt (1-10, 7.85 ERA) to follow on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Church is coming off his best outing of the career with two runs allowed over eight innings against Liberty on Apr. 30.
KSU is 28-20 on the season after dropping two games in their three-game Big 12 series against Missouri last weekend at home.
The Wildcats are 18-8 at home and are led offensively by the duo of Nick Martini (.330 BA, 11 doubles, 33 RBI) and Jared King (.300 BA, 7 HR, 33 RBI). Martini and King pace an offense that is hitting .271 on the season.
Kyle Hunter (4-4, 3.99 ERA) is the Friday starter for KSU with Matt Applegate (4-3, 4.40 ERA) on Saturday and Shane Conlon (2-1, 3.80 ERA) on Sunday. Hunter and Conlon are left-handed pitchers.
Following their trip over the weekend to the “Little Apple”, UNO will conclude its season with four straight home games. LSU visits on Tuesday night with former LSU head coach Smoke Laval leading North Florida into town for the weekend.
Tickets for the remaining Privateer baseball games can be purchased at TicketMaster.com or at the Lakefront Arena Box Office.
