Privateers Fall in Eventful Series Finale vs. Abilene Christian

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (14-32, 3-21 Southland) conceded a seven-run inning and fell 12-5 to the Abilene Christian Wildcats (13-31, 11-13) on Sunday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
 
The Privateers went to the fifth trailing 1-0 when the Wildcats exploded for seven runs on six hits and benefitted from three errors in the field. The inning started with a lead-off single by Russell Crippen who was later driven in on a double. After Kyle Carroll singled with one out, Privateers starter Shawn Semple had to leave the game with one out in the fifth. 
 
New Orleans went to the bullpen for Daniel Martinez and three of the next five batters for the Wildcats reached on an error. Coach Ron Maestri was ejected arguing a call during a play which resulted in his first ejection of the season. When the dust settled, four of the seven runs scored were unearned.
 
New Orleans tried to commence a late inning rally. After scoring in the fifth on an RBI triple by Chaz Boyer, the Privateers made a bigger dent in the lead in the seventh. The first five batters in the inning collected hits and trimmed the lead to 8-4. Abilene Christian went to Ladgie Zotyka out of the pen who got a double play and a fly out to right to end the frame with the Privateers trailing 8-5.
 
The Wildcats broke the game back open in the ninth off of Nick Halliday. The bases were loaded with one out when Halliday struck out Jordan Forrester. However, Crippen came back up and cleared the bases with a grand slam to left-center. Crippen ended the day 4-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs.
 
The Privateers got a 3-for-4 day at the plate from Boyer who also accounted for both Privateers extra base hits on the weekend. Ryan Calloway, Sam Carriere, and Samuel Capielano each had two hits. Carriere extended his hitting streak to 11 games while Capielano scored twice. Martinez went 2.2 innings and was charged with four unearned runs.
 
The Wildcats also got three players besides Crippen who had two or more hits. Heath Beasley went 3-for-5 with three runs, and Tyler Eager and Alex Copeland each had two hits. Garrett DeMeyere picked up the win, throwing six innings and allowing 10 hits while striking out five. Zotyka picked up his second save in as many days.
 
The Privateers will be back in conference play for their next outing when they travel to Nicholls on Friday, May 8. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
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