NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (23-24, 8-15) put on an offensive show in the first game but wound up splitting the day with the Abilene Christian Wildcats (23-22, 10-13). The Privateers won the first game 14-2 but the Wildcats took the nightcap 7-3.
GAME ONE
NEW ORLEANS-14 ABILENE CHRISTIAN-2
The Privateers had an offensive outburst that started in the second inning with eight runs.
Antonio Gauthier hit the first of two homers in the frame. Two batters later,
Darren Willis followed with his second homer of the season.
The six through nine hitters in the lineup accounted for 10 hits and 12 RBI while starter,
Brandon Mitchell (3-3) dominated over eight innings. Mitchell struck out a season-best 10 batters and allowed two runs in his longest outing of the season while picking up the win. His previous high in strikeouts was five (three times).
Jorge Tejeda had a perfect 3-for-3 day with three RBI and three runs scored.
Salo Iza landed a triple shy of the cycle and had three RBI with four runs. Willis led the team in RBI with four while Gauthier was 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs.
The inning and strikeout total was the highest of the season for Mitchell. The 14 runs scored were the most by New Orleans in a conference game this season.
Mathew Oset struck out two batters in the ninth to close down the game.
Spencer Chirpich (7-3) took the loss. He allowed eight runs on seven hits and three walks in 1.2 innings. Luis Trevino had two extra base hits: a double and a home run.
GAME TWO
ABILENE CHRISTIAN-7 NEW ORLEANS-3
Trevino got the Wildcats off to a fast start homering in each of his first two at-bats to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead after three innings. Starter, Drew Hanson retired the first nine batters in order.
However, New Orleans struck the scoreboard in the fourth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Iza tripled toward the right field corner to level the score at 3-3. Hanson threw 30 pitches over the first three innings but nearly doubled his pitch count, throwing 26 in the fourth.
The Wildcats broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth with three runs. Trevino and Dalon Farkas had a single and double respectively to set up the frame. Collin Chaney drove in a run with a sac fly to left to break the deadlock. An RBI single from Ryne Randle and an RBI triple from Riley Donahue extended the advantage to 6-3.
Trevino added another homer, his third of the game to stretch the lead to 7-3. Hanson (4-2) picked up the win after he went seven innings, his longest outing of the season.
Chris Turpin (4-4) took the loss.
The Privateers threatened in the eighth with two on and two outs. However, Bryant Jordan got a strikeout looking to get the Wildcats out of danger and preserve all of their four-run advantage.
NEXT UP
The series for now is scheduled to conclude at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Steven Swift will get the ball for the Privateers. Jonathan Nicholson is scheduled to start for Abilene Christian.
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