NEW ORLEANS – Entering the season, he earned the nickname walk-off Willis for his late-inning heroics last season. Who else would be at the plate when the winning run crossed the plate but shortstop
Darren Willis. However, it wasn't a hit that ended the game, but rather, the speed of
Evan Francioni. Pinch running for
Tresten Kennard, who singled off Myers in the ninth and later, advanced to second on a passed ball, Francioni moved to third on a wild pitch and on the very next pitch, the Archbishop Rummel alum came around to score as the University of New Orleans (5-1) defeated Butler University (2-3) 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Maestri Field.
The Privateers finished the Allstate Sugar Bowl Baseball Classic 3-0 and have now won five consecutive ballgames.
A pitchers' duel highlighted the final game of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Baseball Classic with a total of three runs, but the UNO combination of
Steven Swift,
Christopher DeMayo,
Mathew Oset and
Reeves Martin struck out seven and did not allow an extra-base hit.
"We battled today," said head coach
Blake Dean. "I was impressed with our guys, and kudos to Francioni. Francioni made a great read in his first game and was aggressive, but overall, we pitched well and matched Butler and took advantage of the opportunity."
The Privateers struck in the bottom of the first as an error was costly for the Bulldogs with
Luther Woullard driving home
Wade Raburn for a 1-0 lead. Raburn reached on the throwing error by the Zach Jarosz.
Butler tied the game at 1-1 in the third on the UNO fielding error.
The clubs threatened at times but the bullpens were able to keep the score the same until UNO manufactured a run on a passed ball and back-to-back wild pitches in the ninth.
Swift punched out two in 4.0 innings and was relieved by DeMayo, who went 3.0 scoreless with four strikeouts. DeMayo worked himself out of trouble in his season debut. Oset continued his sensational start to the season, tallying a strikeout in 1.1 before handing the ball to Martin, who picked up the final two outs of the ninth.
Connor Schultz matched Swift with 6.1 innings of one run (unearned) ball. Southpaw Kevin Napoleon followed allowing a hit in 1.1 innings before 6-7 right-hander Joe Myers finished the eighth and picked up the first out of the ninth. Kennard singled through the right side off Myers and in came another lefty, this time Joe Graziano. Kennard moved to second on the passed ball and in came Francioni. Jack Pilcher entered the game and Francioni showed off the wheels, moving to third on a wild pitch and then scoring the winning run on another wild pitch.
WIN-LOSS RECORDS
Throwing just four pitches, Martin (1-0) picked up his first win of the season with the final two outs of the ninth. Myers (0-1) was charged with the loss despite the run being unearned, as Kennard's single turned out to be the decisive game-winner with Francioni (pinch runner) crossing the plate in the ninth.
NEXT UP
The Privateers head to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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