Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (8-16, 1-7 Southland) took a pair of tough losses by scores of 1-0 and 3-2 in a doubleheader against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (14-15, 5-3) on Saturday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
The Privateers dropped the first game in 10 innings by a 1-0 margin. Starter
Alex Smith went nine innings and held the Islanders lineup silent while spreading out seven hits and two walks on 116 pitches. Reliever
Seth Laigast came in out of the bullpen and allowed Zack Gibson to reach to lead off the frame. Gibson was moved to third with two outs then Brandon Tierney hit a double off the base of the wall to drive him home.
New Orleans had the first two batters retired, but
Samuel Capielano reached on an error to keep the frame alive. Islanders reliever Kaleb Keith recovered to get
Reese Kanter to pop out in foul ground to end the front end of the doubleheader.
"Alex did a fantastic job. You can't fault the pitching. We just don't swing the bat. I don't know if we hit a ball hard all day. We've got to get in the cage and just keep working at it because it doesn't get any easier but the kids are playing hard, they're giving their best and that's all you can ask," said Head Coach
Ron Maestri.
In the second game, starter
Nick Halliday gave up two early runs in the second inning. Cody Stephens singled and stole second to get into scoring position with one out. The tide turned in the inning on a ground ball hit to short by Russell Vaughan. It was collected by Capielano who tried to make a play on the lead runner, but Stephens slid in under a tag at third. The first run scored on an error, and Dominic Lopez drove in a second on a single to push the early Islanders lead to 2-0.
New Orleans responded to cut the lead to 2-1 in the third.
Zach Liberto was hit by a pitch then moved to third on a hit-and-run by Capielano. On the next at-bat,
Mitchell Alexander grounded into a double play that Liberto scored on to punch the first Privateers run of the day.
Nick Halliday gave up three runs through four innings, but bounced back to shut down the Islanders' lineup over three more frames. Halliday went a season-high seven innings on the hill, but took his second loss of the season.
"They made most of the plays and we did too. I was proud of our guys in the field, but there are no moral victories. You've got to win and we came up short a run in both games. The second game we did some things well, but when we get people in scoring position we've got to move them," said Maestri.
Both teams were held scoreless in the final four frames. Trevor Belicek pitched a complete game on the mound and limited the Privateers to six hits while throwing 105 pitches. It was Belicek's first win of the season, and he retired the side in order in the ninth to finish off the game.
Capielano had five hits over the two games to lead the Privateers offensively. New Orleans as a unit collected 10 hits over the first two games of the series. Dixon and
Jonathan Santana combined to throw out three runners trying to steal while facing an Islanders squad that came in with 42 stolen bases, and ranked second in the Southland in that category.
The two teams will finish off the series on Sunday with a first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
Hunter Medine gets his first weekend start for the Privateers and will be opposed by Devin Skapura.
