THIBODAUX, La. – The University of New Orleans Privateers baseball team (8-3, 0-0 Southland) will open its 2019 Southland Conference schedule when it travels to Didier Field to take on the Nicholls State Colonels (7-7, 0- Southland) in a three-game series starting on Friday. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is scheduled for 6 p.m. and Sunday is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Game Notes:
http://unoprivateers.com/sports/2018/2/15/baseball-game-notes.aspx?path=baseball
Listen Live:
http://unoprivateers.com/watch/
Live Stats:
https://geauxcolonels.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter:
@Privateers_BSB
Instagram:
@Privateers_BSB
Facebook:
/PrivateersBSB
ABOUT NEW ORLEANS
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Collin Morrill is on an active 27-game on base streak. Morrill is hitting .385 and has a .510 on-base percentage.
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Luther Woullard is on a ten-game hitting streak. He also leads the team in RBI (10).
- Heading into the week, New Orleans co-leads the Southland (along with Abilene Christian) in doubles with 25. Woullard and Morrill each have four
doubles.
ABOUT NICHOLLS
- The Colonels suffered a pair of tough losses to midweek opponents. Nicholls lost a low-scoring contest by a 3-1 count against the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Tuesday. A day later. Nicholls made the trip to South Alabama and lost 6-3 to the Jaguars.
- Ethan Valdez is the lone Colonel who made the Preseason All-Conference Team. Valdez has suited up in 170 career games to date. The Colonels starting second baseman is hitting .302 through his first 53 at-bats of the season. Valdez crested the .300 mark last season as well, hitting .303. He also turned 31 double plays in the field in 2018.
- Nicholls is 11-4 against the Privateers since New Orleans joined the Southland. However, the Privateers got the better of the Colonels in 2018 with a series sweep. The Colonels had won the first nine contests against the Privateers prior to 2017. New Orleans has gone 4-2 since.
- Seth Thibodeaux has been the Colonels' head coach since 2011. In that stretch, he has a record of 236-227. Thibodeaux's high mark for wins in a season came in 2015 when he guided Nicholls to a 34-19 overall record. That win total was the highest in program history since 1992. In Thibodeaux's tenure, 18 student-athletes have gone on from Nicholls to play professional baseball.
- In a win against Alcorn on February 19, the Colonels tied a program record. Nicholls scored 25 runs in a 25-5 victory against the Braves. The run total tied the highest mark which was originally set in 2005 against Memphis. Brady Bell finished the game with four hits and landed a triple short of the cycle.
- The Colonels have had three players in program history who played 10 or more seasons in the Majors. The longest tenured Colonel in the bigs was the late Darryl Hamilton who played 13 years in the big leagues between five different teams. Justin Speier pitched for 12 seasons in the Majors.
- Nicholls was picked to finish ninth in the Southland Conference in the preseason poll. The Colonels also have a significantly newer roster with 19 newcomers (10 freshmen, 9 transfers). The Colonels returned four starters in the field to the 2019 club.
- Jacob Bedevian got the start last Friday against Holy Cross and delivered eight solid innings on the mound. The senior allowed just two hits, a walk, and a run. Bedevian also pitched 8.1 innings in his season debut against Southern Illinois. Bedevian started at another Southland school (UIW). He came to the Colonels via transfer from Alvin Community College. Last season, Bedevian started 14 games and posted a 5.40 ERA.
- Austin France has already collected six multi-hit games. The sophomore is hitting .333 on the season for the Colonels. He also leads the team in RBI with 13.
PITCHING MATCH-UPS
LHP Brandon Mitchell (1-0, 9.64 ERA) vs RHP-Trevor Kilcrease (1-1, 6.43)
RHP Chris Turpin (2-0 1.53 ERA) vs RHP-Jacob Bedevian (2-0, 2.95)
TBA vs LHP-Shane Mejia (2-0, 4.05)
Turpin went 5.2 innings in a no-decision in his last start against Yale. He has allowed just one walk in his first three starts (17.2 IP).
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@Privateers_BSB on Twitter,
@Privateers_BSB on Instagram, like
/PrivateersBSB on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
