Baseball Begins Six-Game Road Swing At Missouri State On Tuesday, At Arkansas Wednesday

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team hits the road for its first road swing of the season, starting the six-game span with midweek contests against Missouri State on Tuesday, Mar. 21 and at Arkansas on Wednesday, Mar. 22. First pitch against Missouri State is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., with Arkansas slated for 6 p.m.

This will be the fourth all-time meeting between UNO and Arkansas, with Arkansas sweeping a doubleheader against the Privateers 14-0 and 3-0 back in the 2013 season. Against Missouri State, this will be the first meeting between the two sides.

"These are going to be two tough battles," head coach Blake Dean said. "This past weekend we were getting better at getting big hits when we needed them, we are going to need to see more of that during these road games. Both these teams have the arms to silence our offense, so we have to be smart at the plate and not chase bad pitches. These teams can also hit, which will test our pitchers."

The Privateers (13-7) head into the six-game road swing on a four-game winning streak, besting nationally-ranked LSU on the road before sweeping Abilene Christian in a Southland Conference series.

UNO boasts one of the top offenses in the Southland Conference, leading the conference in sacrifice flies (15), and tied for the most doubles in the league (55), while ranking second in batting average (.308), runs scored (148), total bases (342), slugging percentage (.472), hits (223), on base percentage (.394) and runs batted in (137). Senior infielder Samuel Capielano leads the Privateers with a .395 batting average, the sixth-highest in the SLC, while tied for fourth in the league with 30 total hits. Junior infielder Owen Magee ranks second in conference with 24 RBI, while sophomore outfielder Orynn Veillon is tied for second with 10 doubles and junior outfielder Tristan Clarke ranks third in the league with 47 total bases and sixth with a .644 slugging percentage,

On the mound, the Privateers leads the conference in strikeouts (175) while boasting the second-lowest opposing batting average (.242) with the fifth-lowest ERA (3.97). Sophomore left handed pitcher Bryan Warzek leads the conference with a 0.89 ERA and is fifth with an opposing batting average of .196, while junior right handed pitcher Shawn Semple sits just above him in the strikeout category with 39 to sit third in the league.

The Bears (13-6) conclude a four-game homestand after going 1-2 against Memphis this past weekend. Missouri State is hitting .270 on the season with 122 runs, 175 hits, 36 doubles and 23 home runs which ranks 16^th in Division I. Jake Burger leads the Bears with a .351 batting average, while tied for the most home runs in the country with nine and. His .784 slugging percentage and .444 on base percentage also leads the team.

On the mound, Missouri State boasts a .276 ERA with 191 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .211 batting average. Jake Fromson has only allowed four runs to score in 23.1 innings for a 1.54 ERA, while Jordan Knutson leads the Bears with 32 strikeouts.

Arkansas (17-4) entered the top-25 of the Perfect Game national poll this week after sweeping Mississippi State in a weekend series with two midweek victories over Alcorn State to give the Razorbacks a five-game winning streak.

The Razorbacks are one of the best home run hitting teams in the country, blasting 30 so far this season to rank eighth. Overall, Arkansas is hitting .281 with 156 runs, 196 hits and 32 doubles. Jake Arledge leads Arkansas with a .373 batting average, while Grant Koch has eight doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI. Every Arkansas batter who has started 11 games has hit at least one home run this season.

In similar fashion to their home runs, Arkansas is also one of the nations' best at striking out batters, with their current total at 225. Overall, the Razorbacks have an ERA of 3.03 with an opposing batting average of .221. Individually, Trevor Stephan ranks 29^th in total strikeouts with 40, while placing ninth in Division I with four victories.

New Orleans is back at Maestri Field on Friday, Mar. 31 when UNO hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6:30 to start a Southland Conference series. For tickets to future Privateers athletic events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263) and season tickets can be purchased over the Internet by clicking HERE.