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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (4-9) re-opens Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark and begins a new era in the Southland Conference against preseason conference favorite No. 18 Sam Houston State Bearkats (13-4) on Friday night.
New Orleans will be playing its first game on campus since April 2012, spending time away from Maestri Field while construction took place at the ballpark. After nearly two seasons of roaming away from its home, the Privateers will have their lakefront ballpark back for good at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night.
The Privateers are coming off the second consecutive mid-week game that was cancelled by inclement weather. New Orleans was trailing Southern Miss 5-0 in the bottom of the first inning on Tuesday when lightning in the area forced a delay. The teams never got back on the field and the game was cancelled, marking the fourth contest affected by weather or field conditions this season.
Freshman
Hezekiah Randolph has collected a hit in each of his nine starts, and leads the team in RBI. Randolph provided the game-winning hit in New Orleans' most recent victory last Friday at Troy with a two-run double in the 13th inning. This season, Randolph is batting .350 (7-for-20) with runners in scoring position.
Senior
Reese Kanter has reached base in all 13 contests this season and leads the team with a .320 batting average. Kanter also leads the team in walks drawn (8), doubles (f4), total bases (23), and on-base percentage (.414).
The Privateers and Bearkats have only met once, and this Friday will mark the first regular season contest between the two Southland schools. New Orleans beat Sam Houston State 8-4 during the 1989 NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas.
Sam Houston State has lit up the polls this season, climbing up to 18th in the Baseball America poll while ranking 23rd according to Perfect Game and 24th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America poll. The Bearkats already own wins over in-state foes, Texas Tech, Rice, and TCU. The most recent outing was a 9-2 loss on Tuesday to Texas-San Antonio.
The Bearkats are hitting .303 as a team this season. That effort is paced by Hayden Simerly who is hitting .426 while having started all 17 games. Colt Atwood is hitting at a .405 clip, and six of the Bearkats regular starters are batting over .300. Ryan O'Hearn leads the club in home runs (three) and RBI (14).
Strong pitching has helped Sam Houston State to its start, which has grabbed national attention. The Bearkats have a team ERA of 2.18. Three relievers have made at least four appearances without giving up an earned run, and Bearkats pitchers have held opponents to just a .241 batting average.
The series starts with a first pitch on Friday scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 280-GAME or online at
www.ticketmaster.com.
