Tristan Clarke Records Seven RBI In Baseball's 14-0 Win Over Alcorn State

BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – In the game of baseball, a single is supposed to be the most common hit. For junior outfielder Tristan Clarke however, it was lone stat to elude the Brampton, Ontario native from recording a cycle in the University of New Orleans baseball team's 14-0 victory over Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon at Maestri Field.

Overall, Clarke ended the afternoon going 3-4 with a double, triple, home run and seven RBI. The seven RBI are the most by a Privateer under head coach Blake Dean, and just the third time in the past seven seasons a player has recorded six or more RBI in a game.

On the defensive side, New Orleans (8-3) posted its second-consecutive shutout victory, the first time the Privateers have recorded back-to-back shutouts since the 1995 season when UNO bested Jackson State 6-0 and followed it up with a 5-0 win over Lamar. Including their midweek game against South Alabama, the Privateers' pitchers have held opponents scoreless for 21-consecutive innings.

"We pitched really well today," Dean said. "[Shawn] Semple did a great job starting us off and overall the bullpen has done well this weekend. We are limiting our strikeouts at the plate and in turn we have been scoring more runs. [Aaron] Palmer is getting his momentum back. When he gets on base he scores runs."

For the second-straight game, the Privateers scored the go-ahead run in the opening frame, finishing the inning with three scores. UNO matched last night's run total in the second frame, adding seven runs to make it a 10-0 ballgame. Of the 10 tallies in the opening two stanzas, Clarke drove in five of them off of a triple and double. Also recording RBI in the opening two frames were senior outfielder Hezekiah Randolph, junior outfielder Jay Robinson, junior catcher John Cable and sophomore outfielder Orynn Veillon who hit a 2 RBI home run.

Clarke added his final two RBI in the third inning off his fourth home run of the season, while a bases loaded walk for Randolph and a sacrifice fly from Cable added two in the seventh frame.

Junior right handed pitcher Shawn Semple got the start for the Privateers, throwing six innings with eight strikeouts while allowing four hits. Freshman right handed pitcher Reeves Martin, senior left handed pitcher Hunter Medine and senior right handed pitcher Riley Hodge all contributed one inning apiece, combining for five strikeouts.

For Alcorn (4-6) Barna Brandon paced the offense with two hits in three at bats. Tyler Smith had the longest outing on the mound for the Braves, allowing three runs off four hits in four innings of work.

The weekend series concludes on Sunday, Mar. 5, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Following the weekend series, the Privateers return to action on Tuesday, Mar. 7 when they host Southern Miss at 6:30 p.m. UNO begins Southland Conference play on Friday, Mar. 10 when they host Southeastern Louisiana in a televised contest starting at 6:30 p.m. 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.