Note: Please note the time change for Friday's first pitch from the original schedule!
Live Stats (for all three games)
NEW ORLEANS - Former LSU head coach Smoke Laval and the University of North Florida will visit the Lakefront this weekend as the University of New Orleans concludes its 2011 home schedule beginning Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
The teams will also play at 2 p.m. on Friday with one final contest at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats will be available for each game on UNOPrivateers.com.
As part of the final home weekend, UNO (3-48) will honor six seniors prior to first pitch on Saturday in a ceremony that will start at approximately 12:45 p.m. Joining their families on the field for the final time will be Michael Ballero, Nolan Church, Matt Heltz, Cory Myers, Tyler Sanders and Michael Tedesco.
Ballero, Sanders and Myers have been with the program since the second of back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2008. Heltz and Church have been active members of the roster since 2010 with Tedesco joining the squad this season.
The six seniors will look to aid their teammates in finishing the season on a high note.
Left-handed pitcher Robert Ormsbee (0-7, 9.38 ERA) will make his first start since Apr. 16 when he leads off a trio of UNO pitchers on Thursday.
Two seniors will close out the weekend with Church (0-4, 9.00 ERA) on Friday and Sanders (1-11, 7.75 ERA) on Saturday. Sanders will seek to duplicate his quality start from Tuesday night's game against LSU when he makes his 12th start of the year.
Jake Palmisano and Cameron Wheeless are the top two hitters on the Privateer roster with batting averages of .261 and .258, respectively. Church tops the team in home runs (four), doubles (10), RBIs (22) and slugging percentage (.369).
Laval, who coached at LSU from 2002 through 2006, is in his first season at UNF (25-26). He is assisted by former Jesuit head coach Tim Parenton, who led the Blue Jays to three straight state tournament appearances before joining Laval's staff.
The Ospreys will start southpaw Robbie Collier (3-5, 4.76 ERA) on Thursday and right-handed pitcher Tyler Moore (4-3, 3.44 ERA) on Friday. No pitcher has been announced for Saturday with possible options including Kyle Westwood (2-5, 5.12 ERA) or Casey Medlen (5-2, 5.31 ERA).
UNF is led at the plate by Alex Bacon (.359 BA, 9 HR, 40 RBIs) and Andrew Karmeris (.352 BA, 10 HR, 38 RBIs). The Ospreys have dropped their last five games, including a 4-1 loss at South Florida on Tuesday night.
This weekend's series is the final competition for UNO prior to a major renovation at Maestri Field this off-season. The facility completed 'Phase I' of the two-phased renovation earlier in the year with upgrades to the clubhouse, ticketing and merchandise areas of Privateer Park.
