Baseball Keeps Season Alive With 4-3 Victory Over Stephen F. Austin In Southland Conference Tournament

BOX SCORE (PDF)

SUGAR LAND, Texas – Stepping into the batter's box in the 10^th inning still looking for his first hit in the Southland Conference Tournament, freshman third baseman Darren Willis sent a ball through the right side with two outs on Thursday afternoon to send senior designated hitter Hezekiah Randolph home for the game-winning run in a 4-3 victory against Stephen F. Austin.

New Orleans (29-27-1) opened up the game-winning stanza with help from Stephen F. Austin (29-28), as an error by the Lumberjacks allowed Randolph to safely reach base. Junior right fielder Tristan Clarke advanced the go-ahead runner with a single before Willis sent him home. On the defensive side, senior southpaw Hunter Medine held SFA without a run in the bottom half, keeping the Privateers alive in the conference tournament.

"We started off a little slow offensively," head coach Blake Dean said. "[Patrick Ledet] was doing a good job of keeping our hitters off balance. [Bryan] Warzek did a great job of matching what he was doing on the mound and holding their offense. We got a big home run late in the game which brought us right back into it, we followed it up in the next inning with some big hits to tie it up and then won it in the 10^th."

SFA opened up the contest with three runs in the fourth, capitalizing on a Privateers error which allowed the home side add two extra runs. UNO got on the scoreboard in the sixth off a two-run homer from Randolph, with a single from senior second baseman Samuel Capielano scoring sophomore Orynn Veillon in the seventh for the tying run.

Capielano paced the Privateers' offense with three hits and one RBI, while senior first baseman Dakota Dean, Clarke and Veillon all matched the River Ridge, La. natives' total with two hits. Randolph scored a game-high two runs while adding two RBI.

On the mound, sophomore southpaw Bryan Warzek got the start and held the Lumberjacks to three runs, one earned, off 12 hits in eight innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Medine came in and logged the final two innings, holding SFA scoreless while tossing three strikeouts for his first win of the season.

For Stephen F. Austin, Nick Ramos matched Capielano with three hits and one RBI, while Tyler Kendrick and Alex Hrinevich both posted two hits. Patrick Ledet threw a team-high 5.2 innings and allowed two runs off six hits with four strikeouts, with Will Vest contributing one inning while Tyler Starks closed out the contest and got the loss.

Privateers are back in action on Friday, May 26 when they take on the loser of the contest between Southeastern Louisiana and Sam Houston State 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.