Privateers Baseball Opens SLC Tournament vs. Southeastern

7) NEW ORLEANS VS 2) SOUTHEASTERN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 | 12 PM
CONSTELLATION FIELD | SUGAR LAND, TEXAS

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The University of New Orleans baseball team (30-24, 14-16 Southalnd) will participate in their first SLC tournament when they take on the 2-seed, Southeastern Lions (36-18, 21-7) on Wednesday at noon at Constellation Field.
 
UNO qualified for the eight-team field by virtue of Stephen F. Austin losing to Lamar on the final day of the season. That created a three-way tie for seventh, which favored the Privateers because of their series win over Sam Houston State.
 
"They've done a good job of rising to the occasion this year when being faced with adversity," said Coach Blake Dean. "Obviously this is something we've never done before and it doesn't get any easier with the teams we're going to play but hopefully they find another gear and another way to win."
 
The Privateers have been one of the best hitting teams from a statistical standpoint throughout the season. As a unit, they carry a .303 batting average, the first time a Privateers squad hit over .300 since 2008. UNO also leads the league in triples with 22 and has scored 10 or more runs in a game 13 times to date.
 
Individually, five Privateers received recognition on the All-Southland team. Kyle Bracey and Hezekiah Randolph were first team selections while Aaron Palmer and Dakota Dean made the second team. Daniel Martinez was named honorable mention. Another Privateer who is on a hot streak of late is Preston Marsh who is riding a nine-game hitting streak entering the tournament.
 
The side of the bracket that the Privateers drew features Southeastern who paced the field for almost the entire season before drifting back out of the top spot on the last weekend. Northwestern State and McNeese State are also on the Privateers' side of the bracket as the 3 and 6-seed respectively. The Privateers have had solid performances against the top teams this season with a 6-3 record against the top three seeds in the tournament.
 
"That speaks volumes that they always seem to get motivated to play the top teams and that's all we have is the top eight in this tournament," said Dean. "Hopefully they find ways to execute and find a little energy to get the job done."
 
UNO will start Riley Hodge in their tournament opener. Hodge is 4-4 with a 4.26 ERA and was tied for tenth in the Southland in innings pitched at 86.2. Hodge has gone at least six innings in 10 of his 14 starting calls and also ranked ninth in the conference in strikeouts. He will be opposed by Kyle Cedotal who did not pitch last week. Cedotal is 5-4 with a 2.92 ERA.
 
In their history, UNO has also yielded positive results in their first tournament in a conference. The Privateers won the first Sun Belt tournament they participated in (1978) and finished third in their debut American South tournament (1988). The Privateers have an all-time record of 36-31 in conference tournament games.
 
The Lions had 11 honored on the All-SLC team including Jameson Fisher who was Player of the Year. Brennan Breaud won Freshman of the Year and Kade Granier took Reliever of the Year honors. Southeastern sputtered down the stretch, dropping five of their last six conference games.
 
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