Privateers Baseball Digs Into Early Hole, Falls to McNeese in Series Finale

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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team (18-14, 4-8 Southland) fell into a six-run hole in the first and could not bounce back in a 13-3 loss after eight innings against the McNeese State Cowboys (18-11, 10-5) on Sunday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
 
Against starter, Bryan Warzek the Cowboys got their offense going. A one-out double by Shane Selman was followed by two consecutive walks. Coach Blake Dean made a quick move to the pen and brought in Daniel Martinez, but the Cowboys were able to do major damage early. Lewis Guilbeau drove in the first runs on a two-run double.
 
After a strikeout, Todd Hinkley walked to load the bases back up with two outs. That set up Will Fox who hit a bases clearing triple to right to bring in three more runs. The Cowboys got another extra base hit when Cameron Toole doubled in a sixth run. McNeese sent 10 batters to the plate in the opening inning.
 
UNO got on the board in the second and was looking for an even bigger inning. After a single by Chaz Boyer, catcher's interference put Preston Marsh aboard with one out. That was followed by a string of back-to-back RBI singles by Ryan Calloway and Jay Robinson. The inning ended on a fly out into a double play as Calloway was caught too far off of second on a fly ball to shallow right.
 
The scoring calmed down in the middle innings as McNeese starter, Ethan Stremmel settled in. Stremmel allowed only three hits over the next four innings. The Cowboys notched another run at the plate in the fifth on a Joe Provenzano solo homer. The Privateers answered with a run of their own on an RBI single by Samuel Capielano to cut the Cowboys lead to 7-3.
 
That was as close as UNO got for the remainder of the game. The Cowboys again opened it up late with two runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth to finish the sweep in emphatic fashion. Stremmel (2-1) went 6.2 innings and picked up the victory. Cowboys pitchers did not issue a walk on the afternoon.
 
The Privateers were led offensively by Capielano and Robinson who had two hits each. UNO had three doubles after going the first two days with just one extra base hit. Martinez went 6.0 innings in his longest outing of the season. Hunter Medine finished off the shortened game, throwing the last 1.2 frames.
 
Provenzano and Connor Crane each scored three times while Crane added his 13^th stolen base of the season to lead McNeese. Guilbeau went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, two doubles, and two runs. Ricky Ramirez went 2-for-5 and the Cowboys scored 13 runs on 14 hits. Trent Fontenot finished off the seventh on the mound and Collin Kober pitched a scoreless eighth to end the game.
 
The Privateers are back in action at home on April 13 against Louisiana-Lafayette in a game presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. 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.
 
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