SUGAR LAND, Texas – Head coach
Blake Dean said someone needed to step up and give the bullpen a break.
Kyla Arjona did more than that, tossing a complete game to propel the University of New Orleans (29-31) to the championship game as the No. 8 seed as the Privateers eliminated No. 4 Houston Baptist University (29-30) with a 6-1 win Saturday afternoon at Constellation Field in the 2018 Southland Conference Championship.
New Orleans advances to face No. 3 Northwestern State University in the title game at 6 p.m. today after concluding earlier in the day at 2 a.m. following a 12-inning marathon versus the Huskies.
Arjona's start was a thing of beauty as the always energetic Privateer dugout and the
Zach Thompson birdcall could be heard throughout the surrounding area.
A six-pitch 1-2-3 leadoff inning for Arjona set the standard for the semifinals game and trilogy of the UNO/HBU series. In the bottom frame,
Collin Morrill's leadoff single and
Owen Magee's base knock to left center field put runners on first and second for the meat of the Privateer order.
Pearce Howard drove a pitch straight away and picked up a double while plating New Orleans' first run of the game. A four-pitch walk to
Orynn Veillon loaded the bases with no outs.
Beau Bratton lined out to left field, but the sacrifice fly scored Magee to extend the Privateers lead to 2-0. Making his first start of the season, Cameron Copeland was able to limit the damage to the two runs as HBU turned two to end the first.
Arjona cruised through the second and
Scott Crabtree went oppo to lead off the bottom frame with a single, but the Privateers could not tack onto its lead to send us into the third with a 2-0 lead.
@YoSoy_Arjona nearly made it through the entire HBU lineup without allowing a baserunner but the Huskies picked up a hit (Jack Fitzgerald). However, that was all as Arjona forced a weak grounder on a check swing to end the top half of the third.
A 13-pitch at bat by Magee began the bottom of the third and ended with a solo shot for the first team all-conference selection for his team-lead eighth of the season. That was all for Copeland as the Privateers took a 3-0 lead off the right-hander. Brady Batten entered the game and the first hitter he faced (Howard) singled to left. The right fielder successfully avoided a tag to swipe his first bag of the season and came around to score on
Jay Robinson's infield single.
Arjona continued to deal with his third 1-2-3 inning through 3.5 at Constellation Field.
The lead was extended in the bottom of the fourth following
Devin Morrill's hit by pitch. After advancing to third on
Darren Willis' sacrifice and
Collin Morrill's single, respectively. Magee was 3-for-3 by the fourth with an RBI single making it 5-0 and a fielder's choice/error made it 6-0 UNO. Veillon singled and that was all for Brady Batten as Weston Smart, who threw 63 pitches earlier in the day (4.1 in 12-inning game versus HBU) against the Privateers, entered the game.
The Huskies were able to get on the board to begin the fifth on a leadoff home run by Jake Pulcheon. It was the first inning HBU really got to UNO but it was only able to pick up a run.
Beau Bratton drew a walk in the sixth to extend his reached base safely streak to 31 consecutive games.
A masterpiece of a start, Arjona's stamp came in the seventh with the Florida native striking out the side in order as we stretched at Constellation Field with a 6-1 UNO lead.
Surpassing the 100-pitch mark in the eighth, Veillon made a great running play in left center field to end the eighth. Arjona struck out eight and allowed just five runs in 8.0 beautiful innings.
He came out of the dugout in the ninth and ended the game on his signature. That hard sinker turned two and the Privateers advanced to take on Northwestern State University later today at 6 p.m.
Magee went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs,
Collin Morrill and Howard added two hits apiece and all in all, UNO collected 12.
HOW TO FOLLOW
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