NEW ORLEANS – Chris Turpin fired six shutout innings in his debut for the New Orleans Privateers (1-1) and Reeves Martin continued his march up the program list in saves in a 4-1 victory over the Michigan State Spartans (1-1).
The Belle Chasse native and Delgado transfer Turpin kept the Spartans silent in an efficient outing that encompassed 76 pitches. John Barr provided the bridge and Martin nailed the door shut for his 13th career save. That number ties him for second in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Turpin and Mike Mokma dueled through the first two innings which went scoreless. The first Privateer breakthrough on the scoreboard came in the third inning. Salo Iza was hit by a pitch with one out and successfully stole second moments later. With two outs and Iza still at second, Beau Bratton came through with a two-out, two-strike single to put the Privateers on the board.
New Orleans added single runs in three of the next four innings. In the fourth, the Privateers had second and third with one out after a single by Tresten Kennard and a double from Collin Morrill. Two batters later, Darren Willis popped out in foul territory. Kennard made a break for home and scored.
The Privateers got another run off the bat of Pearce Howard which moved their lead to 3-0. The sophomore outfielder was not retired in four plate appearances (two hits, two walks) on the day.
The final New Orleans run came when Luther Woullard hit a sharp single out of the reach of Spartans second baseman, Reese Trahey. Wade Raburn crossed the plate for his second run of the game. Michigan State's only tally came in the eighth on an RBI single from Royce Ando.
Meanwhile, Turpin was automatic and had some sharp defense in the field. One of the big highlights was this double play that ended the sixth inning in Turpin's last batter faced on the afternoon
Michigan State brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Martin recorded shallow fly ball outs off the bat of Danny Gleaves and Bryce Kelley to preserve the victory.
FROM COACH DEAN
"Turpin came out and set the tone for us and threw a lot of strikes. He kept our defense on their toes and it resulted in how well they played as well. It was a great first outing for him."
"I was hoping our defense would be a highlight and today they played superb. That's what it took to win today was perfect pitching and great defense."
"With Kennard I thought we had to push the envelope a bit. We weren't necessarily swinging the bat very well and we were leaving some opportunities out there. Great job by Tresten and we have been aggressive on the base paths."
FROM CHRIS TURPIN
"I just tried to force contact. I was trying to put the ball over and let our defense do the job and they did."
"That double play was huge. Coach Rudy (Darrow) came out to the mound and said we're going to try and get them to roll it over here and it happened to get us out of the inning."
NEXT GAME
The Privateers and Spartans wrap up the three-game series Sunday, first pitch is set for 12 p.m.
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