NEW ORLEANS – It's a full week of Privateer athletics as six different sports will be competing this week. There will be six home events including the beginning of the 2020 baseball season with the Andre Dawson Classic. Women's basketball is home for two contests while men's basketball returns to the Lakefront on Saturday.
BASEBALL
The 2020 baseball season gets going for the New Orleans Privateers with the Andre Dawson Classic. New Orleans will face Southern, Grambling, and Prairie View A&M in the first weekend of the season. First pitch for the season opener against Southern is at Maestri Field for 6:30 p.m.
New Orleans has an 11-1 mark in this invitational since 2015, which was formerly known as the MLB Urban Youth Invitational.
-The Privateers have not been shut out in 125 straight games dating back to May 14, 2017. That's the third longest such streak in program history.
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Gaige Howard returns for his senior season after a standout junior campaign that saw him hit .330. Howard earned postseason All-Southland honors in 2019 and was named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Southland team this year.
-Antonio Gauthier led the team in home runs last season with eight. The sophomore third baseman had 16 extra base hits in his freshman year.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Privateers close the road swing in the Natural State taking on Central Arkansas Wednesday at 7 p.m. New Orleans defeated the Bears 86-78 January 8 at Lakefront Arena. The last time the Privateers were in Conway,
Bryson Robinson tied the single-game three-pointers made record with nine triples (James Parlow). He has reached double figures in all 23 games this season and 25 dating back to last year.
The Privateers welcome UIW Saturday at 6 p.m. on Mardi Gras Night. UNO debuted its white Mardi Gras jerseys at SFA Saturday.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The New Orleans women's basketball team is locked into fifth-place in the Southland as the Privateers host two conference foes at the Lakefront Arena this week, starting with a clash with Central Arkansas on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 PM.
The game on Wednesday will be a celebration of Play 4 Kay day in partnership with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Play 4 Kay is a national fundraising effort in memory of former North Carolina State University head Coach Kay Yow, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and battled the disease until 2009.
New Orleans will then host UIW on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 4 PM as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball program. The game will feature the Privateers Mardi Gras celebration for fans in what will be a fun evening spent on the Lakefront.
Senior guard
Rehema Franklin is eighth in the conference in scoring at 13.8 points per game.
Asia Woods is fourth in the Southland in rebounding (7.7 boards per game) while
Whitley Larry is seventh overall in the department (7.2 rebounds) while also leading the Southland in blocks (1.8 per contest).
MEN'S TENNIS
The Privateers men's tennis team (4-1) will head to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers (5-2) on Saturday, Feb. 15.
New Orleans won both of their matches over the weekend with a 4-3 decision over Jacksonville State and a 7-0 sweep against Loyola (La.). The Privateers will be on the road for the next four matches starting with the tilt against the Tigers.
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Mats Westkamp is now 4-0 in singles play with all wins coming at flight one. Westkamp and doubles partner,
Austin Vos have also won three straight doubles decisions.
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Johannes Klein came up with the deciding point in the Privateers' win over Jacksonville State. Klein is 4-1 in singles this year with a pair of three-set wins.
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Espen Lagarde returned to the lineup last weekend after missing the prior two matches. Lagarde went 3-0 in singles and doubles against Jacksonville State and Loyola.
GOLF
Privateer Golf returns to the course for the first time since late October on Monday and Tuesday when they travel to Matthews, Louisiana for the LaTOUR Intercollegiate. Coach
Jeff Lorio's squad finished the fall portion of the schedule ranked second in the Southland by Golfstat.com with an average round of 290.
-Sophomore
Grayson Gilbert finished the fall ranked 4th in the Southland with a low round of 66.
-Junior
Florian Moosmeier finished the fall ranked 9th in the Southland with a low round of 66.
Moosmeier's 54-hole score of 206 to open the Fall was the second-best 54-round score in program history.
-Sophomore
Ryan Fulton finished the fall ranked 13th in the Southland with a low round of 67.
-The Privateers finished the fall with four golfers ranked inside of the top 20 in the Southland, joining Abilene Christian as the only two schools in the conference to accomplish that feat.
-The program has shown consistent year by year improvement since the arrival of Coach Lorio before the 2016-17 season. During his first season, the team averaged 309.28 before averaging 305.41 in 2017-18, and 300.61 in 2018-19. This year's squad has shown a ten-stroke improvement through the fall averaging a team score of 290.45 in four tournaments so far this season.
TRACK AND FIELD
The Privateer track & field program returns to action with the Samford Invite No. 2 this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 14-15) at the Birmingham Crossplex. Friday will feature a short program with the women's high jump and men's weight throw getting things underway at 5:30 PM CT. The men's and women's 200m dash finals will also start at 5:30 PM.
Saturday's schedule is much more jam-packed over 34 events throughout the day. The field portion of the schedule will get underway at 8 AM CT while the running events will follow at 9 AM CT.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@UNOPrivateers on Twitter,
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/UNOPrivateers on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
