Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Box Scores:
Game 1 Game 2
Updated UNO Stats
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team split a doubleheader against Valdosta State on Saturday at Maestri Field.
In the opening game, UNO (8-5, 2-2 Gulf South Conference) rallied from a 4-0 deficit with a five-run eighth inning for a 5-4 victory before VSU (9-7, 1-1 GSC) claimed a 14-2 win in the second contest.
The Privateer comeback in the opener came after Blazers' starting pitcher Kevin Rogers was responsible for holding the hosts off the scoreboard through seven innings.
In the eighth inning, a
Zach Pohto double ended Rogers' day while representing just the fifth hit given up by the left-handed pitcher that struck out two Privateers.
The Pohto double was one of four hits in the frame for a UNO squad that victimized VSU relief pitcher Benjamin Weil (4-3) for four runs in the game-changing inning. After Weil plunked
Dan Perkins by pitch and retired
Blake LeBlanc, the Privateers strung together three straight singles against the pitcher.
Beau Boudreaux,
Clint Coleman and
Cameron Wheeless delivered the singles that set the stage for a
Brandon Simon fielder's choice that plated the go-ahead run. The Wheeless hit was part of a 3-of-4 effort for the third baseman while Simon posted two hits in four official plate appearances.
Cory Hoffman (1-0) won his first collegiate game for UNO, holding VSU to four hits in 2.1 innings of work.
Garrett Manning recorded the final two outs with two runners on for the save.
Buster Jackson went 3-for-4 to lead the Blazers and accounting for two of the team's four runs. The leadoff hitter scored on a Marc Overstreet two-run homerun in the third inning before scoring once more two innings later on a Christian Glisson double.
The three VSU runs, plus a fourth tally in the sixth inning came against UNO starter
Christian Cale. Cale exited after the sixth frame, finishing his day with seven strike outs while allowing four runs on six hits.
A rally by the Privateers would not be duplicated in the second game.
VSU posted crooked numbers on the scoreboard against UNO starter
Stone Speer (1-2) in three different innings to build a 10-2 lead. The Blazers scored three in the second, four in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
Speer's outing on the mound ended after the fifth, yielding 10 runs –six earned - on 11 hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
Cory Myers allowed four runs in the sixth in his return following an injury last season before settling down by retiring the side in the seventh.
The Blazers' Jarod Carlton improved to 3-0 on the season by allowing just four hits and two runs while going the distance for the complete game. Carlton struck out seven Privateers.
Austin Lawrence was 4-for-4 with five RBIs for VSU while
Alex Smith scored four runs while posting three hits in four plate appearances. Three other members of the Blazers' lineup produced at least a pair of hits.
UNO's runs came from LeBlanc and Wheeless. LeBlanc tripled before scoring on a Boudreaux sacrifice fly in the first with Wheeless lifting his second home run of the season over the left field wall an inning later.
LeBlanc was the top hitter in the second game going 2-for-3 to improve his batting average to .309 on the season.
The two teams are scheduled to close the series with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
