Semple and Veillon Enter Baseball's Record Book In 12-7 Loss To Southeastern Louisiana

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SUGAR LAND, Texas – The University of New Orleans baseball team began play in the 2017 Southland Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon, with a pair of Privateers entering the program record book in a 12-7 loss to Southeastern Louisiana.

Sophomore center fielder Orynn Veillon paced the offense with two hits, both going out of the park to put the Lafayette, La., product into a five-way tie for ninth in the program record book for the most home runs in a season with 15. Junior righty Shawn Semple got the start on the mound and tossed six strikeouts, needing just one to enter the record book for the most in a season and now resting at eighth with 109. The Swedesboro, N.J.'s native's totals lifts the New Orleans' (28-27-1) pitching staff to 439 on the season, the fifth-most in program history.

"He is just not missing pitches," head coach Blake Dean commented on Veillon. "When he makes contact he has the power to hit it out of any part of the park. He is finding the right time to get himself hot as we are going to need another big game from him tomorrow. Semple continues to impress me every time he steps on the mound. We have asked a lot of him this season and he has stepped up every time and has yet to let us down."    

The Privateers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after two innings with homers from junior catcher John Cable and Veillon, but Southeastern Louisiana (37-18) responded with one run in the bottom of the third and followed up with at least one in each of the following five stanzas.

UNO recreated its four-run lead in the fifth using a solo home run from Veillon plus a tally by senior designated hitter Hezekiah Randolph off a wild pitch to make it 6-2 before eight unanswered runs by the Lions propelled them to a 10-6 advantage. Randolph crossed home plate one more time for the Privateers, scoring off a groundout from junior left fielder Jay Robinson in the eighth to cut the deficit to three before two more SLU tallies made it 12-7 heading into the final frame.

"Overall I thought we came out and swung the bats well," Dean said. "We were hitting some balls out of the ball park and were getting to [Mac Sceroler] early on, but to beat a team like Southeastern Louisiana you have to play all the way through. Both starting pitchers were on their second-straight short rested week which gave both offenses the advantage against the All-Conference aces."

Senior shortstop Aaron Palmer, Cable, Randolph and Veillon all posted two hits in the loss, with Cable and Veillon each providing two RBI while Veillon and Randolph both scored two runs.

On the mound, Semple logged 5.1 innings, allowing six runs with five earned off seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Freshman right-handed pitcher Reeves Martin and junior righty Rafael Martinez both contributed one inning of relief, with Martin chipping in one strikeout.

For Southeastern, Crites Carson paced the offense with three hits while Drew Avans, Derrick Mound and Bobo Webb all posted home runs. Josh Green got the victory for the Lions on the mound after coming in and logging 2.2 innings of relief with just one run allowed.

The Privateers are back in action on Thursday, May 25 when they take on Stephen F. Austin 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.