NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team plays its first midweek contest of its season-long 11-game road swing on Wednesday, April 26 when the Privateers take on Jackson State in Jackson, Miss. First pitch for the non-conference game is scheduled for 6 p.m.
UNO leads the all-time series against Jackson State 65-11, winning the last five outings including a 16-2 victory earlier this season at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark. Senior
Hezekiah Randolph has a .500 career batting average against the Tigers, scoring 12 runs while logging nine RBI in five games. Junior
Rafael Martinez got the start on the mound in the first meeting this season, logging five innings with three strikeouts.
"We are going to have our hands full tomorrow," head coach
Blake Dean said. "Jackson State is a really good ball club, their offense has been red-hot lately and they are currently one of the top teams in the country when it comes to getting hits. We have to go in there and do everything right if we want to win. Our offensive is going to have to get out of its current slump and find a way to score some runs because Jackson State will score runs. We beat them earlier this season, so they are going to be ready to play and looking to avenge that loss."
New Orleans (19-21) heads into the midweek bout against Jackson State on a season-long eight game losing streak, most recently dropping three to the University of Texas.
Offensively, New Orleans is hitting .291 (404-1387) with a .436 slugging percentage off the strength off 77 doubles, 11 triples and 34 home runs. Junior catcher
John Cable leads three Privateers who are hitting over .300 with a .338 batting average, followed by junior infielder
Owen Magee and senior infielder
Samuel Capielano with marks of .333 and .321 respectively. Magee and sophomore outfielder
Orynn Veillon both have 12 doubles with Capielano posting a team-best three triples and junior outfielder
Tristan Clarke boasting eight home runs while Magee has a team-high 31 RBI.
On the mound, UNO sports a 4.67 ERA while tallying 308 strikeouts with 154 walks in 354.1 innings of work to date. Sophomore southpaw
Bryan Warzek and junior right-handed pitcher
Shawn Semple both have five wins; with Warzek posting a team-low 2.32 ERA and .234 opposing batting average in a team-high 66.0 innings while Semple boasts a team-best 65 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.
Jackson State (31-12) returns home after a six-game road swing, going 2-1 against Alcorn in their last weekend's series.
The Tigers are hitting .333 as a unit (471-1413) with a .453 slugging percentage coming from 86 doubles, 16 doubles and 17 home runs with 312 RBI. Lamar Briggs leads a lineup of eight JSU batters hitting over .300 with a .401 average. Cornelius Copeland boasts a team-best 15 doubles while Calvin Newsom has five triples and Jesus Santana posts a team-high seven home runs and 50 RBI.
On the mound, Jackson State has a team-ERA of 3.45 with 317 strikeouts and 156 walks in 363.0 innings of work. Jordan Bolden leads the team with seven victories, while Miguel Yrigoyen ties for the most strikeouts on the team with 53 in a team-high 72.0 innings. Jose Tirado boasts a team-best five saves with a 1.00 ERA.
Following the midweek skirmish, the Privateers hit the road for a three-game Southland Conference series at UIW starting on Friday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. UNO returns to First NBC Ballpark on Friday, May 5, when they begin a SLC series against 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.
--www.UNOPrivateers.com--
