Privateers Baseball Posts Big Second Inning, Tops Islanders

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas  – The University of New Orleans baseball team (22-15, 7-9 Southland) put up a seven-run second inning and made it stick in a 7-3 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (13-24, 4-12) on Friday at Chapman Field.
 
Islanders starter, Chris Falwell ran into trouble in the second frame, hitting the first two batters he faced. A single from Preston Marsh then loaded up the bases. Ryan Calloway legged one out for an infield single that brought in the first run. Aaron Palmer continued the pressure with a two-run single of his own.
 
A one-out RBI single by Samuel Capielano made it 4-0. A walk to Dakota Dean then loaded up the bases, which set up an RBI ground out to push a fifth run across. Kyle Bracey capped off the scoring in the big inning with a two-run base hit as the Privateers batted around and sent 11 to the plate.
 
"Their starter made a few mistakes and we were able to capitalize," said Coach Blake Dean. "We got some big hits at the right time to put it out of reach and Shawn went out there and threw a few scoreless innings to keep the momentum in our dugout."
 
The Islanders stranded 11 on base during the game and left a runner on third in three consecutive innings. It took until the sixth for the Islanders to break onto the scoreboard. A two-out error kept the inning alive and Brian Deaver hit an RBI single to make it 7-1.
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi added single runs in the seventh and eighth. Shawn Semple went 7.2 innings, but after a single put two aboard with two out, Daniel Martinez was summoned out of the pen to get the Privateers out of the two-out jam. Martinez induced a pop out off of Brett Burner's bat to end the threat.
 
"Shawn had some quick outs," said Dean. "He got behind a bit, but when he got his ball down in the zone and got ahead, he got soft contact he got some quick outs for himself."
 
In the ninth, the Islanders got two aboard in the ninth. Casey Thomas led off the inning with an infield single and Nick Anderson drew a two-out walk. Martinez ended the game when he got Dawson Yates to ground out to first, which put a cap on the fourth straight victory for UNO and the eighth save of the year for Martinez.
 
The Privateers collected nine hits on the night and were led in the hit column by Palmer and Preston Marsh who had two hits each. Palmer also added his 13^th stolen base of the year as he was part of a double steal along with Capielano in the ninth. Semple did not allow a walk while securing his fifth victory of the year.
 
The Islanders were led by Yates who went 2-for-5 with a double and a home run. Scott Balfantz added three hits in four at-bats and Burner went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. Falwell recovered from the seven-run inning to throw eight frames and strike out 10 batters. Thomas also added two hits from the lead-off spot in the order.
 
With rain expected on Sunday, the series will now conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday. The decision was made shortly after Friday's contest finished. The doubleheader starts at 2 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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