Privateers Bounce Into Four Double Plays in Loss to Nicholls

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (14-35, 3-23 Southland) fell behind early and grounded into four double plays in a 5-1 loss to the Nicholls Colonels (31-16-1, 16-10) on Saturday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
 
The Colonels were aggressive early in the game and plated three runs on five hits. After back-to-back singles to start the game, Kyle Reese drove a single into right that scored the first run. A second run came in on the first error of the game. Justin Smith added a third run in the frame on an RBI single.
 
It was all Grant Borne would need as he wound up going the distance while spreading out nine hits and throwing 70 of 102 pitches for strikes. The Colonels added a run to the lead when Reese scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0 after three.
 
The Privateers started to get base runners in the middle frames. Samuel Capielano and Sam Carriere led off the fourth with consecutive singles, but one of four double plays was turned by the Colonels defense off the bat of Cameron Hoffman to end the threat. New Orleans didn't score until the sixth when Ryan Calloway beat a tag at the plate on an RBI single.
 
Nicholls got their final run of the game off of Nick Halliday in the eighth. After a lead-off single by Reese, Justin Smith roped a triple down the first base line to push the Colonels lead to 5-1. Borne went through the ninth inning in routine fashion for his third complete game of the season.
 
Starter, Daniel Martinez came back from a slow start to the game, allowing just one run over the next five frames. Martinez struck out eight batters in the contest while pitching six innings. "There was not that much difference in the game except they got the key hits when they needed and they made things happen. We've just got to keep working at it," said Head Coach Ron Maestri.
 
Chaz Boyer was one of two Privateers to go for a two-hit day and had the only extra base hit for New Orleans on the afternoon. Capielano also went 2-for-4 and Carriere extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Halliday pitched the final three innings and struck out two while allowing a run on two hits. The Privateers have now lost 11 straight against Nicholls.
 
Reese provided a four-hit day and scored three times. Smith and Justin Holt each had two hits and Smith drove in a pair of runs. Seven of the Colonels' 10 hits on the day came from the top three hitters in the lineup. The game was finished in 1:59 in front of a crowd of 803.
 
The series concludes back in Thibodaux on Sunday with a first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
 
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