Privateers Baseball Concedes Lead Late, Falls to Southeastern

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HAMMOND, Louisiana – The University of New Orleans baseball team (30-20, 14-13 Southland) took a lead into the eighth, but could not hold on in a 4-3 loss to the Southeastern Lions (36-15, 22-5) on Sunday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
 
Leading 3-2, Shawn Semple made his first appearance out of the pen this season and was through 2.1 scoreless innings. With two outs and the bases empty in the eighth, Semple got ahead of Jameson Fisher 0-2, but lost him to a walk. The next hitter, Carson Crites singled to continue the frame. Drew Avans ran the count full before hitting a double into the gap in left-center to put Southeastern in front.
 
Kade Granier entered in the eighth and was tasked with closing the game down. Ryan Calloway singled to shallow left and was bunted over by Jay Robinson. The next two batters were struck out by Granier though to preserve the victory and keep the Lions from getting swept on the weekend.
 
"Typically whoever wins the last three innings wins the ballgame," said Coach Blake Dean. "They got a clutch hit and that's what sealed the deal. I thought our pitching staff threw really well all weekend, but if you look at today all  three walks scored. When you give extra opportunities to championship teams that's when they capitalize. We didn't have the big inning hitting either."
 
Bryan Warzek ran into early trouble in the first inning after allowing two walks followed by a two-run double to Fisher, but recovered to get out of the inning. Warzek settled in, tying a season high in strikeouts with six and pitching into the sixth inning. Warzek only allowed two hits during his outing, both to Fisher.
 
"Bryan did a great job," said Dean. "He settled in. I was on the verge of pulling him in the first or second inning if he couldn't get it together but he started throwing his fastball and curveball for strikes and that's what kept him in the game."
 
The Privateers grabbed their first lead of the game in the fourth inning off of starter, Domenick Carlini. The table was set on a lead-off walk drawn by Hezekiah Randolph and a single by Kyle Bracey. Then Preston Marsh doubled into the gap to bring across the first run. Ray Veit followed with an RBI sac fly and Calloway collected the first of two hits on the day to put UNO ahead 3-2.
 
The game remained scoreless until the eighth as Carlini did not allow a hit over the next three innings. Southeastern committed two errors, hit a batter, and had a wild pitch but escaped the inning with no runs allowed when Carlini recorded a strikeout with runners on the corners. The Lions lefty who came in leading the Southland in opponent batting average went seven innings and struck out three.
 
Bracey and Calloway each collected two hits as UNO out-hit Southeastern 8-4 on the day. Semple thew 43 pitches in his return to the mound and went 2.2 innings allowing two hits. Randolph, Marsh, Samuel Capielano, and Jay Robinson each added a hit.
 
UNO is back at home for their final mid-week game on Tuesday against Louisiana-Lafayette. 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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