Privateers Baseball Drops Series Finale to Stephen F. Austin

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NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The University of New Orleans baseball team (15-5, 4-2 Southland) fell behind early and were defeated 16-6 after seven innings in the series finale against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (10-11, 1-5) on Sunday at Jaycees Field.
 
Stephen F. Austin got their offense going early, scoring four runs in the first inning. After UNO stranded two runners in the top of the frame, the Lumberjacks started the two-out scoring with a two-run triple by Conner Fikes. Two batters later, Slayton Vaughan hit a two-run single to put the Lumberjacks up 4-0 after one. It was the start of a day that saw 14 Lumberjacks cross home plate with two outs.
 
"That's a dagger," said Coach Blake Dean. "We knew we'd have to come out and swing the bats today, but from a pitching standpoint we needed an opportunity to go out there and put up a zero to let our hitters get going and we just didn't do that. They clearly beat us and swung the bat better than we did."
 
Samuel Capielano collected the first of his three hits with a solo homer to lead off the second. It was Capielano's first homer of his career and it put the Privateers on the board. The Lumberjacks had a three-run answer waiting in their half of the second though as Matthew Dickey scored on a passed ball and Garrett McMullen hit a two-run homer to extend the Stephen F. Austin lead to 7-1.
 
The Privateers cut the deficit to 8-4 after Jay Robinson and Ryan Calloway came up with back-to-back two-out RBIs. The first two Lumberjacks in the bottom of the frame were retired, but the next six batters reached on five hits and a walk. Stephen F. Austin opened their lead back up to 12-4 and coasted from there.
 
"Our offense was chipping along, and we were hitting their starter pretty well but we never got a chance to stop the bleeding and keep putting pressure on them," said Dean. "They out-hit, out-pitched, and just overall outplayed us today."
 
The Privateers tried to stave off the run rule as Aaron Palmer homered to lead off the seventh. Dakota Dean then reached on an error and Capielano singled, but the game eventually ended on a line out to left. The 16 runs marked the highest total given up by UNO this season.
 
Capielano went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, and three runs. Palmer was 1-for-4 with two runs and Robinson drove in two. Jordan Priddle was lifted after one inning of work and six runs allowed. Keaton Brewer, Ryan Leone, and Myles Blunt threw for the Privateers out of the pen. Brewer worked the longest at 2.2 innings.
 
Stephen F. Austin was led by a host of offensive performances including Tyler Kendrick who had four hits and two runs scored. McMullen drove in four on a 2-for-5 day while Fikes and Vaughan added three hits each. Starter, Patrick Ledet went the distance in the shortened game and struck out five while issuing one walk.
 
UNO returns home on Tuesday to face South Alabama. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
 
Season tickets for the 2016 campaign are available for as low as $125 and single-game tickets start at $5. For additional information, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or click HERE.