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ABILENE, Texas – The University of New Orleans baseball team (26-18, 10-12 Southland) committed two errors which turned into three runs and were stymied offensively in a 6-1 loss to the Abilene Christian Wildcats (14-28, 6-16) on Friday at Crutcher Scott Field.
The Wildcats were able to execute small ball throughout the night as well. Russell Crippen led off with a single and a hit and run moved him to third with one out. The Wildcats then executed one of eight bunts. A squeeze by Derek Scott brought in the first run to give Abilene Christian a 1-0 lead after the opening frame.
"The wind played into their advantage," said Coach
Blake Dean. "We couldn't go out there and slug like we normally do. You had to play small ball and we walked a few guys, gave them an opportunity to do what they do and they were successful."
The Privateers left an opportunity to tie the game in the second.
Hezekiah Randolph led off the frame with a double, but Abilene Christian starter, Garrett deMeyere retired the next three in order to get out of the frame. UNO did tie the game in the third on a two-out RBI single by
Samuel Capielano, but that was all the offense could muster on the evening.
"We hit some balls okay at the plate, but we didn't make many adjustments," said Dean. "We kept popping the ball in the air instead of hitting the ball hard on the ground and we got a loss out of it."
Abilene Christian took the lead for good in the fourth inning. The Privateers cut down a runner trying to score during the frame on an outfield assist by
Jay Robinson, but Wildcats catcher, Stetson Meek came through with a two-out RBI single. Meek was making his first start behind the plate and went 1-for-2 with a walk.
The Wildcats continued to slowly add on throughout the game as they successfully executed two bunts for hits and six sacrifice bunts on the evening. The Wildcats also took advantage of two Privateer errors. The first was on a ground ball to lead off the fifth. Crippen reached on the miscue and came around to score.
The second came in the eighth inning. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, a two-base throwing error allowed both runs to score to cap off the scoring. deMeyere shut the door in the ninth for his second complete game of the season.
Capielano and Randolph both had two hits on the night. Capielano and
Aaron Palmer each added a stolen base. Starter,
Riley Hodge went 4.1 innings and took the loss.
Keaton Brewer,
Jordan Priddle, and
Zach Wilson combined to throw the final 3.2 frames and allowed one earned run between them.
Heath Beasley had the big night at the plate for the Wildcats as he went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Crippen scored two runs and Hunter Markwardt went 1-for-3 with a run and stole three bases between the seventh and eighth inning.
The series continues on Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
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