Box Score UNO-Nicholls Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the ninth inning to force extra innings before falling 15-7 in 11 innings to Nicholls State on Tuesday night at Maestri Field.
A
Cameron Wheeless grand slam in the ninth inning completed a rally for UNO (8-7) in the ninth to knot the score at 7. The Wheeless grand slam was the first for a Privateer since Jeff Lanning belted one in the 2008 NCAA Regionals against Texas Southern.
UNO had a chance to win the game in the 10
th when
Dan Perkins was out trying to reach home from second base on a
Tyler Hughes ground ball.
NSU (10-7) responded to the threat and stopped the Privateer momentum in its tracks with an eight-run 11
th inning. The Colonels tallied eight runs on four hits with two UNO miscues in the inning as
Garrett Manning (0-1) took the loss.
NSU pitcher Donnie White (1-0) recovered from giving up the grand slam and ended up with 2.1 innings pitched and just one run allowed on three hits.
Prior to the rally, the Colonels scored a single run in four of the first five innings – all against Privateer starter
Cory Hoffman. The left-handed pitcher finished his day after the fifth frame on the mound, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out two.
Two of the Colonels scores in the first five innings came via a round-tripper. Phillip Lyons homered in the opening inning with Mike Barba rounding the bases in the fifth inning. NSU added one run apiece in the final three innings of regulation.
The UNO scores prior to the five-run ninth came in the second and fourth innings.
Perkins singled in the second inning, reached second on an error and third on a wild pitch.
Brandon Simon put the ball in play on the next at-bat for an RBI. In the fourth, it was Simon getting on base with a lead-off triple. Simon was then brought home when Hughes grounded out.
The Privateers were led in the contest by
Jonathan Coco, who hit 3-for-5 with a run scored while Simon and
Blake LeBlanc had two runs apiece.
The Colonels were led by Lyons, who went 4-for-7 at the plate with two runs and five RBIs. Blake Bergeron was 3-for-5 with Barba the only other player with multiple hits, producing two hits and three RBIs.
UNO will play a three-game series against Alabama-Huntsville on the road starting Saturday. The series begins a six-game road trip for the Privateers, who do not return to Maestri Field until Mar. 24 when the squad contests three in a row against West Georgia.
