Baseball Ends Season In Southland Conference Tournament Semifinals

BOX SCORE (PDF)

SUGAR LAND, Texas – The University of New Orleans baseball team's record-setting season came to an end on Friday afternoon, as the Privateers lost to Sam Houston State 7-1 in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals.

New Orleans ends the season with a 30-28-1 record, marking the first time the Privateers have posted back-to-back winning season since the 2007 and 2008 campaigns while setting the program record for Southland Conference victories with 16 and advancing to the SLC Tournament semifinals for the first time.

"This is special group," head coach Blake Dean said. "They continue to improve and helped us revive the program. It has been a special ride this team has been on the last two years and I would not have wanted to go on it with anyone else then who we have. These guys have built a foundation for us to build on."

The Privateers had individuals etch their names into the program record book, with junior righty Shawn Semple boasting the eighth-most strikeouts in a season with 109 while sophomore southpaw Bryan Warzek ends the season with a 2.12 ERA, the eighth lowest by a UNO ace. Overall, the UNO pitching staff ended the campaign with 467 strikeouts, the fourth-most in program history. At the plate, sophomore center fielder Orynn Veillon smashed 15 home runs in his first season at the Lakefront, tied for the ninth-most in a single season.

Seniors Samuel Capielano and Hezekiah Randolph both end their illustrious careers with their names in the record book. Randolph hangs up his hat with the fourth-most doubles (48) in a UNO career in the ninth-most games (204), while Capielano finds himself with the seventh most hits in program history (734).

"[Sam Houston State] is a good baseball club," Dean said of the game. "I thought we did ok on the mound, [Hunter] Medine did a pretty good job. [Tristan] Clarke had an amazing grab for us, one of the best I've ever seen. I could not be prouder with how we played this week."

Sam Houston State (39-20) jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage in the second inning and held onto it for the duration of the game. The Bearkats threatened to extend the lead in the fifth with a blast into left field, but junior right left fielder Tristan Clarke made a jump at the outfield wall and stole the home run and then made the throw to freshman third baseman Darren Willis who tagged the base to get the runner out since he properly tag the plate.

Unfortunately for the Privateers, SHS blasted a homer in the sixth and added another run in the frame to make it 4-0. UNO cut into the deficit in the eighth via an error from the opposition, but gave up three more tallies in the final stanza.

Senior southpaw Hunter Medine got the start in his final collegiate outing, logging a season-high 4.0 innings while allowing two runs off six hits with a pair of strikeouts and a walk. Junior lefty Matthew Gillis logged two innings, with freshman left-handed pitcher Christopher DeMayo contributing 1.2 scoreless frames and junior righty Jarred Taylor tossing 1.1 innings.

On offense, senior shortstop Aaron Palmer paced the Privateers with two hits and a run scored.

For Sam Houston State, Blake Chisolm went 3-4 at the plate with two RBI and triple. On the mound, Seth Ballew logged 4.0 innings with four strikeouts, followed by Riley Cooper who chipped in 2.2 innings with three strikeouts.

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.