Box Score
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (4-11, 0-2 Southland) were hit hard late in a 14-4 loss to the No. 18 Sam Houston State Bearkats (15-4, 2-0) in the front end of a doubleheader on Saturday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
The Privateers were tied at 4-4 in the sixth, but Sam Houston State exploded for four runs to break the game open and go ahead for good. The tie-breaking run came across on an RBI double by Shea Pierce that chased New Orleans starter
Darron McKigney. With runners on second and third and one out,
Mitchell Cohen came out of the pen.
After Cohen got a ground out, both inherited runners scored on a Colt Atwood double. The Bearkats added another run off of Cohen when Luke Plucheck singled back up the middle to push the Sam Houston State advantage to 8-4.
From there, the Bearkats put up six runs in the final two frames. Anthony Azar hit his second home run of the game, a grand slam off of
Tyler Schwaner in the eighth. The final frame saw the Bearkats push two runs across against
Christian Cale.
New Orleans started the contest on a strong note against starter Sam Odom. The Privateers racked up three runs on the strength of a two-run double by
Hezekiah Randolph, and an RBI ground out by
Jonathan Coco.
The Bearkats tied the game up at 3-3 when Azar hit his first home run of the day, a three-run shot with two outs in the third. Sam Houston State would push ahead 4-3, but the Privateers tied the game right back in the fifth when
Zach Liberto lined a double down the left field line.
Sam Houston State had 11 hits on the afternoon and drew eight walks. Carter Burgess drew three free passes and scored twice. Seth Holbert and Dylan Ebbs appeared out of the pen and combined to keep the Privateers hitless over the final three frames.
Liberto and Randolph led the offense for the Privateers as both collected two hits.
Reese Kanter drew a walk, and has moved his streak of consecutive games reaching base safely to 15.
