Baseball Takes On UIW In Weekend Series

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team continues its season-long 11 game road swing on Friday, April 28, when the Privateers begin a three-game Southland Conference series at UIW. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with Saturday starting at 3 p.m. and Sunday's finale slated for 1 p.m.

This will be just the second weekend series between the two sides, with UIW taking two-of three back in the 2014 installment. Seniors Hezekiah Randolph, Samuel Capielano each posted four hits over the three-game series, with Randolph hitting a home run and Capielano chipping in a triple.

"[UIW] is in a similar situation as us," head coach Blake Dean said. "They can hit the ball a little bit, but they are still trying to figure out the pitching side. We need to score, we need to put up some runs and start outscoring our opponents."

New Orleans (19-21-1, 8-10 Southland Conference) heads into the conference series following its first tie since the 1976 season in a 5-5 draw with Jackson State

Offensively, New Orleans is hitting .291 (416-1427) with a .434 slugging percentage off the strength of 78 doubles, 11 triples, 35 home runs and 223 RBI. Junior catcher John Cable leads three Privateers who are hitting over .300 with a .348 average, followed by junior infielder Owen Magee and Capielano with marks of .338 and .311 respectively. Magee and sophomore Orynn Veillon both have 12 doubles, with Capielano boasting three doubles and junior outfielder Tristan Clarke having eight home runs while Magee leads the team with 33 RBI.

On the mound, UNO sports a 4.67 ERA while tallying 316 strikeouts with 159 walks in 364.0 innings of work to date. Sophomore southpaw 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.

UIW (17-25, 5-13 Southland Conference) enters the weekend series after a pair of midweek contests, defeating Prairie View A&M 17-4 before losing to UTRGV 6-4.

The Cardinals are hitting .281 (404-1437) as a team with a .363 slugging percentage coming from 59 doubles, 13 triples, 11 home runs while tallying 209 RBI. Kyler Genebacher leads four UIW hitters who have batting averages over .300 with a .345 mark, with Eddy Gonzalez chipping in nine doubles, Nico Carza adding three triples, Lee Thomas contributing four home runs and David Anaya posting 27 RBI.

On the mound, UIW has a team ERA of 7.15 with 250 strikeouts and 176 walks in 364.0 innings of work. Bernie Martinez, Cody Allen, John Shull and Ramon Salazar all have three victories, with Martinez sporting a team-low 3.82 ERA in a team-high 61.1 innings on the mound and 41 strikeouts. Lance Moszkowics leads UIW with five saves.

The Privateers wrap up the road swing on Tuesday, May 2, when UNO takes on Grambling State in Biloxi, Miss., at 7:05 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.