Baseball Hosts Tulane On Tuesday

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team continues its eight-game homestand on Tuesday, Apr. 4, when the Privateers host their crosstown rival Tulane at Maestri Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

In the all-time series, Tulane holds an 80-60 lead with both sides winning at home last season for a series split. Junior outfielder Jay Robinson has a team-high four hits against Tulane, while senior infielder Dakota Dean and senior outfielder Hezekiah Randolph each have career batting averages of .375 against the Green Wave. Senior right handed pitcher Hunter Medine has the most experience on the mound versus Tulane, throwing 5 and a third innings over three appearances with a win.

"They are in a similar situation as us in that they are still trying to figure out what their identity is this season," head coach Blake Dean said. "They have a new coach this year so they had to make some adjustments early on, but at the moment they are playing good baseball and beat some tough opponents last week. If we want to win we have to limit our mistakes. We have been making a lot of errors lately which have come back to hurt us. Our offensive numbers have been good, but they are inconsistent. One day we are hitting the ball well and can easily get double-digit hits, and the next day trying to get five is a stretch. We need to work on our consistency all around and continue to get better." 

New Orleans (15-13, 6-6 Southland Conference) continues its homestand after going 2-1 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, hitting a season-high 19 hits in the Privateers comeback 10-9 victory in the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday.

UNO ranks in the top-third of most offensive categories in the Southland Conference, leading the league in hits (309), home runs (27) and total bases (474), second in doubles (66) and slugging percentage (.462), third in batting average (.302) and on base percentage (.386) plus fourth in runs scored (196) and RBI (196). Junior outfielder Tristan Clarke leads the conference in home runs (8) ranks second in total bases (72) and RBI (30) plus fifth in slugging percentage (.661) junior infielder Owen Magee has a team-best .349 batting average, while tied for the seventh-most doubles in the league (10) with sophomore outfielder Orynn Veillon and tied for the 10^th-most hits (37) with senior infielder Samuel Capielano.

On the mound, the Privateers boast the second-most strikeouts in the SLC (237) with a 4.44 team ERA and a .263 opposing batting average. Sophomore left handed pitcher Bryan Warzek places third in the Southland in strikeouts (49) and fourth in ERA (1.88) in the fifth-most innings (43), followed by junior right handed pitcher Shawn Semple who ranks fourth in strikeouts (49) plus ninth in ERA (2.55) and innings pitched (42.1).

Tulane (12-16) enters the contest after winning three games last week, taking two of three from the University of South Florida in their American Athletic Conference opener plus a midweek triumph over LSU.

The Green Wave are hitting .248 on the season with 45 doubles and 27 home runs. Hunter Williams leads the American Athletic Conference in doubles (12) and ranks third in total bases (65), fourth in batting average (.368) and hits (42), plus tied for fifth in slugging percentage (.570), while Jarret DeHart places third in their league in home runs (6) and fifth in runs batted in (27).

On the mound, Tulane has a team ERA of 5.28 with 167 strikeouts and 160 walks. Chase Solesky has a team-low ERA of 2.14, sixth-best in the AAC, in 33 and two thirds innings over 10 appearances with six starts, while Corey Merrill has a team-best 38 strikeouts over 42 and two thirds innings with a 4.43 ERA.

The Privateers homestand continues on Friday, Apr. 7, when Lamar comes to Maestri Field to begin a Southland Conference series 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.