UNO Notes LAFAYETTE, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (9-20, 2-10 Southland) will face their second top-five ranked opponent this year when they battle the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (30-3, 11-1 Sun Belt) on Tuesday at Tigue Moore Field.
The Privateers head in after dropping two of three in a conference road series at Incarnate Word. The bats were held to one run in the first two games, before New Orleans exploded for 10 runs on 14 hits to take the series finale. Three Privateers had at least three hits in the Privateers' 10-6 victory in the back end of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Hezekiah Randolph used the most recent game to break out of a funk by going 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Randolph had been 1-for-23 over his previous six games. It was also Randolph's first home run since the series opener against Sam Houston State on Mar. 14.
Jonathan Santana has added to the Privateers' success behind the plate by throwing out two runners in the last game of the series while providing the go-ahead two-run double at the plate. Santana and
Brian Dixon have combined to nab 23 runners this season, the most in the Southland Conference. Next on the list is Houston Baptist with 17 runners caught stealing.
This will be the first meeting between the Privateers and Cajuns since New Orleans left the Sun Belt after 2010. New Orleans is 69-80 all-time against Louisiana-Lafayette, and has lost six straight entering Tuesday. The last time the Privateers defeated the Cajuns was on back-to-back days in the Sun Belt Tournament in 2008.
Louisiana-Lafayette enters ranked fourth in the country with one of the most prolific offenses to boot. The Cajuns score an average of 8.4 runs per game, and have hit 41 home runs, most in the country. The Cajuns are coming off a sweep of Troy while compiling 37 runs. Louisiana-Lafayette has scored 10 or more runs in seven of their last nine games.
Leading the offense Is Jace Conrad who is on an active 17-game hitting streak. Conrad is batting a team-high .380 with six home runs and 36 RBIs. Conrad is one of seven Cajuns regulars who is currently hitting over .300 on the season. Seth Harrison leads the team in home runs with eight.
First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
