Baseball Hosts South Alabama In Midweek Contest

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team hosts the University of South Alabama on Tuesday, April 11, in the final midweek game at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark of the 2017 season. First pitch for the nonconference game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

This will be the second and final time the sides play each other this season, with South Alabama winning 10-7 on Feb. 28 in Mobile, Ala., despite New Orleans outhitting the Jaguars 10-6. Senior second baseman Samuel Capielano posted a game-high three hits in the loss, with junior right fielder Tristan Clarke boasting three RBI. Junior left-handed pitcher Matthew Gillis had the most productive outing on the mound for UNO, logging 2.1 scoreless innings with a personal-best five strikeouts.

"We have to be aggressive," head coach Blake Dean said. "In the game we played at South Alabama earlier this season, we walked 13 batters and struck out 14 times. Our strikeouts at the plate have been dropping, we have been seeing better outings by our pitchers and our defense has been playing well as of late. We are finally starting to come around. We have gotten better, but there are still areas for us to improve in. This is a shorter week for us with the McNeese series starting on Thursday, so we will need our pitchers to go longer than most are used to. On offense, we have to get big hits and do what has been working for us all season."

New Orleans (19-14, 8-7 Southland Conference) comes into the final contest of their eight-game homestand after a 3-1 week, besting Tulane 9-5 on Tuesday and posting back-to-back shutouts against Lamar with 2-0 and 6-0 scores before falling in the series finale against the Cardinals, 9-1.

Offensively, New Orleans is hitting .300 as a team (345-1150) with a .454 slugging percentage off the strength of 70 doubles, 10 triples and 29 home runs. Junior catcher John Cable leads five Privateers who are hitting over .300 with a .348 batting average, followed by junior infielder Owen Magee, Capielano, sophomore outfielder Orynn Veillon and Clarke with averages of .333, .326, .308 and .308 respectively. Magee and Veillon both have 11 doubles, with Capielano posted a team-best three triples and Clarke boasting team-high totals of eight home runs and 30 RBI.

On the mound, UNO sports a 4.33 ERA while tallying 259 strikeouts with 123 walks in 297.1 innings of work to date. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Bryan Warzek and junior right-handed pitcher Shawn Semple both have five wins, with Warzek posting a team-low 1.56 ERA in a team-best 52.0 innings while Semple leads the Privateers with 56 strikeouts. Freshman right-handed pitcher Reeves Martin plus junior right-handed pitchers William Griffin and Jarred Taylor all have two saves, which ties for the most on the team.

South Alabama (19-13, 9-3 Sun Belt Conference) concludes its nine-game road swing at First NBC Ballpark, heading into the matchup fresh off a weekend sweep of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

South Alabama is hitting .301 as a unit (327-1086) with a .467 slugging percentage coming from 57 doubles, six triples and 37 home runs. Travis Swaggerty paces the Jaguars with a .400 batting average, with Brendan Donovan, Drew LaBounty, Will Left and Jared Barnes all hitting over .300 with marks of .355, .318, .315 and .313 respectively. Swaggerty leads the team with seven doubles and 34 RBI, while Luft has a team-best two triples and Paparella boasting six home runs.

On the mound, USA has a team-ERA of 4.34 with 258 strikeouts and 106 walks in 274.0 innings of work. Thomas Huston leads the Jaguars with four victories while sporting a team-low 2.05 ERA in 48.1 innings. Andrew Cash has logged a team-best 51.1 innings of work for South Alabama and leads the team with 53 strikeouts.

The Privateers hit the road for a Southland Conference series against McNeese, starting on Thursday, April 13, with a 6 p.m. start time. UNO returns to First NBC Ballpark on Friday, May 5, when they begin a SLC series with Houston Baptist with first pitch slated for 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.