Privateers Baseball Falls Behind Early in Loss to Lamar

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BEAUMONT, Texas – The University of New Orleans baseball team (16-7, 4-4 Southland) was held without a run until the seventh and fell behind early in a 5-1 loss to the Lamar Cardinals (15-7, 6-2) on Friday at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
 
Lamar jumped out for four runs in the first to establish the early portion of the game in their favor. Stijn van der Meer reached second on a throwing error to lead off the inning. The next two batters were retired and van der Meer was stationed at third. That's when Reid Russell drove in the first of the two-out runs on an RBI single.
 
Cutter McDowell then walked to put two runners on and Robin Adames followed with an RBI single. After another walk was issued, Chaneng Varela came through with a two-run single to push the Lamar lead to 4-0. The Cardinals forced Privateers starter, Riley Hodge to throw 35 pitches in the first inning alone.
 
"If we don't make the plays and don't execute, that's what happens," said Coach Blake Dean. "If we don't concentrate and make 27 outs just 27 outs then you lose ball games."
 
Hodge settled in afterward and gave up just one hit over the next five innings. Hodge ended his outing by retiring eight of the last nine batters he faced and finished with three strikeouts and four walks on 100 pitches.
 
The Privateers scattered base runners early in the game, but could not get anything going offensively. Hezekiah Randolph doubled off the center field wall to lead off the second, but Randolph was stranded at third. The third inning saw two base runners get on as Jay Robinson and Aaron Palmer both had singles, but a line out ended the inning. Lamar starter, Billy Love went the distance for the win and gave up one run on six hits.
 
"It looked like we were being passive," said Dean. "I don't expect us to get seven runs every game, but we threw at-bats away. We hit a lot of ground balls so we've just got to take better at-bats and be more aggressive in the zone.
 
The Privateers' only run crossed in the seventh inning. Kyle Bracey collected one of his two hits and Samuel Capielano singled then advanced to second on interference as he collided with Jake Nash rounding first. With runners on second and third, Preston Marsh drove a fly ball to center that scored Bracey, but a fly out ended the frame with just the one run. Lamar scored an eighth inning run on a two-out passed ball.
 
Bracey went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run. Jay Robinson went 1-for-2 and drew a walk. The Privateers committed two errors in the field and of the five runs allowed, none were earned. Ryan Leone threw the last two innings and gave up two hits while striking out two.
 
The Cardinals were led offensively by Adames who went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. McDowell drew two walks and Varela went 1-for-3 with an RBI. The Cardinals have now won nine straight contests over UNO. Love's complete game encompassed 112 pitches and three strikeouts.
 
The series closes at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
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.
 
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