UNO Notes | Buy TicketsNEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (10-26, 2-16 Southland) will take part in their final mid-week game of the season when they face the Loyola Wolfpack (25-21, 11-13 SSAC) on Wednesday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
The Privateers are coming off getting swept for the second consecutive weekend, dropping all three games to Southeastern while being held to seven runs. New Orleans has lost a season-high six straight since their victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Apr. 8. The Privateers have played 16 games decided by two runs or less, and have lost 11 of those contests.
Zach Liberto went 4-for-10 on the weekend, and has collected a hit in five of his last six games. Included in that span is a pair of two-hit games. Liberto has also not committed an error in his last 13 games (62 chances) after starting the year with seven errors in his first 53 chances of the season.
Nick Morgan collected five hits on the weekend, including his first three-hit game of his career in the series finale on Saturday. Ever since ending a drought of seven straight appearances without a hit on Mar. 25, Morgan is batting .333 (14-for-42) with six runs and four doubles. Morgan has raised his batting average by 61 points in that span.
New Orleans has won six of nine all-time meetings against Loyola. The last time the two teams met was on Apr. 24, 2007, a game the Privateers took 9-6. The two teams met four straight seasons from 2004-07 after not playing each other for the previous 32 years.
The Wolfpack are coming in winners of five straight and 8-2 over their last ten games including a win over Division I opponent Southern on Apr. 15. Under Doug Faust, who is in his third season at the helm, Loyola has upped their conference win total each season. The Wolfpack have notched 11 wins in Southern States Athletic Conference play after winning 11 conference games in Faust's first two seasons combined.
Loyola has gotten strong pitching this season, and ranks in the top 40 in the NAIA with a team ERA of 3.51. In the last 11 contests, Loyola has held opponents to three runs or fewer. Offensively, the Wolfpack are led by Karson Cullins who enters with a team best .326 batting average and 27 RBIs. Cullins is also riding an active 10-game hitting streak.
Alex Smith (1-6, 4.98 ERA) will take the ball for the Privateers while Kevin Lindsey (5-6, 1.84) starts for the Wolfpack. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
