Baseball Begins Southland Conference Tournament Play Against Southeastern Louisiana

BLAKE DEAN INTERVIEW

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans baseball team begins play in the 2017 Southland Conference Tournament on Wednesday, May 24, at 12 p.m. when the Privateers take on Southeastern Louisiana at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.

New Orleans (28-26-1, 16-14 Southland Conference) enters the conference tournament fresh off its first weekend sweep to end a season since the 2000 campaign, needing all three victories to qualify for the SLC tourney.

"We showed some fight this past weekend," head coach Blake Dean said. "We had our backs against a wall and we fought our way out of it. It showed what we are capable of heading into the conference tournament."

Offensively, New Orleans is hitting .293 (564-1924) with a .441 slugging percentage off the strength of 104 doubles, 14 triples and 51 home runs while posting 316 RBI. Junior catcher John Cable leads three Privateers who are hitting over .300 with a .358 average, followed by junior infielder Owen Magee and senior infielder Samuel Capielano with marks of .314 and .312 respectively. Magee leads the team with 17 doubles with Capielano and sophomore center fielder Orynn Veillon both boasting three triples while Veillon has a team-best 13 home runs and 51 RBI.

On the mound, UNO sports a 4.39 ERA while tallying 432 strikeouts with 205 walks in 487.2 innings of work to date. Junior right-handed pitcher Shawn Semple leads the team with nine victories, with sophomore southpaw Bryan Warzek posting a team-low 2.21 ERA in a team-high 93.2 innings and holds opponents to a .233 batting average while Semple boasts a team-best 103 Freshman right handed pitcher Reeves Martin leads the team with three saves and 29 mound appearances this season.

"Our starting pitchers have done a great job this season," Dean said. "[Shawn] Semple and [Bryan] Warzek have been unbelievable and [Reeves] Martin has done an excellent job out of the bullpen for us. They have come a long way from where they were at the start of the season."

The Privateers opening opponent will be Southeastern Louisiana (35-18, 20-10 Southland Conference), who ended their regular season with a nonconference series against Seton Hall, going 1-1 with a 10-7 victory in their last outing.

The Lions are hitting .257 (444-1730) as a team with a .412 slugging percentage coming from 89 doubles, 18 triples and 48 home runs while tallying 311 RBI. Taylor Schwaner leads SLU with a .321 batting average, four triples and 48 RBI while tying with Ryan Byers for doubles with 13 and Carson Crites in home runs with 13.

On the mound, Southeastern Louisiana has a team ERA of 3.93 with 379 strikeouts and 163 walks in 472.1 innings of work. Mac Sceroler leads SLU with nine victories and 104 strikeouts, while Corey Gaconi has a team-low 2.45 ERA in a team-high 95.1 innings of work.

"To win one of these you have to win four in a row," Dean concluded. "To do that, we are going to have to have some guys step up on the mound and we are going to have to score some runs. I feel comfortable with Semple and Warzek even though they will be throwing on a shortened week. When we get to [Riley] Hodge he is going to have to pitch well. Pitching is the name of the game if you want to win a conference tournament, but we will also need our offense to get big hits as well."

The winner of the contest will go on and play again on Friday, May 25 at 4 p.m. against the victor of the Sam Houston State versus Stephen F. Austin tilt, with the losers playing each other in an elimination game at 9 a.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.