Robinson Hits Walk-Off Homer, Privateers Baseball Takes Series

BOX SCORE (XML) | BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – Jay Robinson entered the bottom of the ninth without a hit on the day and cranked a walk-off solo home run to give the University of New Orleans baseball team (20-15, 6-9 Southland) a 5-4 win over the Northwestern State Demons (18-17, 9-9) on Sunday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.
 
Robinson hit his first homer of the year on an 0-1 pitch to give the Privateers a weekend series victory and move their home record to 16-5 on the year. The win was also the second consecutive walk-off win for UNO.
 
"I told the guys after the game, you have two bad at-bats earlier in the game and you come up in a situation and now you're the hero," said Coach Blake Dean. "That's what Jay did: he came up in the clutch and everyone remembers the home run and nothing else."
 
Daniel Martinez (3-1) picked up the win for the Privateers. After entering the game with a  4-3 lead in the sixth, Northwestern State tied the game with a one-out RBI single by Daniel Garner. After that, Martinez got a strikeout and a fielder's choice to get out of the frame. Martinez retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth and got around a one-out double in the ninth.
 
In all, Martinez pitched 4.0 innings and struck out five batters while throwing 62 pitches (42 strikes) on the day. It was his second longest outing of the year. "Daniel threw well," said Dean. "He had a rough patch that worried me. I told him he has to throw the ball. He just kept flipping it in. He finally got comfortable and gave us three very good innings."
 
The game went back-and-forth in the early stages. Northwestern State grabbed an early lead on their first of three solo homers. The Privateers responded in the bottom of the third as Hezekiah Randolph hit his 12^th double of the year to drive in the first run. Kyle Bracey followed with an RBI single to shallow center.
 
Starter, Bryan Warzek went 3.0 innings and gave up two hits and a run. Warzek walked two batters and struck out three. Jordan Priddle was first call out of the pen and went 2.0 innings while giving up two runs.
 
"Bryan threw okay, but we can't continue to play with fire," said Dean. "We can't fall behind in counts. I wanted more strikes with the way the wind was blowing and how many stolen bases they have. He gave us an okay start, but we have to continue to get better."
 
The Demons tied the game back up in the fifth on a solo homer by Matthew Alford. The game didn't stay deadlocked long as UNO came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Aaron Palmer led off with a walk and Dakota Dean moved him to third on a base hit. After the next two batters were retired, Chaz Boyer knocked in a pair of runs with a single to give UNO a 4-2 lead.
 
Northwestern State led off the sixth with a home run by David Fry, which signaled the change to Martinez. The Demons then got a single from Cort Brinson and he was eventually brought in on Garner's third hit of the day.
 
UNO was led offensively by a balanced effort, which included two-hit games from Palmer, Boyer, Samuel Capielano, and Ryan Calloway. Randolph scored twice and went 1-for-4. Palmer also added his team-leading 12^th stolen base of the year. Calloway finished the weekend with seven hits. UNO out-hit Northwestern State 13-9 on the game.
 
The Demons were led by Garner who fell a triple shy of the cycle. Fry and Alford each had two hits and Brinson went 1-for-4 with a run. Evan Tidwell got the start and went 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits. Nathan Jones pitched 3.1 innings and took the loss.
 
UNO will next hit the road to take on Jackson State on Wednesday, Apr. 20. 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.
 
For more information, follow the Privateers on Twitter @UNOPrivateers and @Privateers_BSB or like us on Facebook.