Privateers Baseball Enters Weekend Road Series Against Islanders

NEW ORLEANS AT TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
FRIDAY-SUNDAY, 4/22-24 | 6:00, 4:00, 1:00 PM
CHAPMAN FIELD | CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS

LIVE STATS | TWITTER | AUDIO | VIDEO | GAME NOTES
 
The University of New Orleans baseball team (21-15, 6-9 Southland) enters an important road weekend having won three straight. The Privateers will face the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (13-23, 4-11) in a three-game series starting Friday at Chapman Field. First pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
The Privateers rallied back from a 6-0 deficit to take their second meeting against Jackson State by an 11-9 score on Wednesday. Hezekiah Randolph had the first game of five hits and four runs scored by a Privateer. Randolph also became the second player to homer twice in the same game, joining Kyle Bracey who accomplished the feat against Southern.
 
UNO enters the weekend in a tie for seventh in the conference standings with five series to go. This is the penultimate three-game road series. The Privateers will also travel to Abilene Christian on the first full weekend in May.
 
"This is the second half of the season for us," said Coach Blake Dean. "This is where we have to push and get some wins on the road to try to make the conference tournament. We have two tough road series where we have to try to go in there and win a game. Corpus has some good arms so hopefully we can pull through."
 
Dakota Dean and Jay Robinson both had to leave Wednesday's win due to injuries. Dean got hit by a pitch in the foot. Robinson hurt his ribs colliding into a wall while tracking a fly ball. Ray Veit and Scott Crabtree came up with big at-bats to help the Privateers seal the win.
 
"We've had some bumps and bruises, but I've told them if you're at 100 percent then you're not playing hard enough," said Dean. "We've had some guys step up and big hits when other guys have gone out and that's what we need. If we want to get better we have to continue to do that."
 
The Privateers will employ the same rotation that they have for the past two weeks. Shawn Semple will throw on Friday. Hodge will get the starting call on Saturday and Sunday's game will be TBA. The Islanders will throw Chris Falwell on Friday and Devin Skapura on Saturday. Sunday's starter will be TBA for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as well.
 
The Islanders are coached by Scott Malone in his ninth season with the team. On Wednesday, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi edged UT-Rio Grande Valley 5-4. Nick Anderson drew a bases loaded walk to win the game for the Islanders.
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 7-6 in home games this season. The Islanders enter the weekend two games behind the final spot in the Southland tournament. Falwell enters the weekend with a 2.18 ERA, sixth best in the Southland. Falwell has recorded 61 strikeouts in 57.2 innings pitched.
 
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.