NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers are still in the hunt for a regular season title as they face the Southland leading Lamar Cardinals in the last weekend. The series starts with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Thursday at Maestri Field.
SCHEDULING NOTES
Thursday will now be a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. with 45 minutes between games. Friday's game is moved up to 1 p.m.
STARTERS
GAME 1: UNO-LHP
Colton Mercer vs. LU-RHP Brooks Caple
GAME 2: UNO-RHP
Grant Edwards vs. LU-LHP Jacob Ellis
GAME 3: UNO-TBA VS. LU-LHP Hunter Hesseltine
The scenario is simple for New Orleans. The Privateers need to first sweep Lamar this weekend. They would then need a bit of help from McNeese who faces Nicholls. McNeese needs to win one game along with a Privateer sweep for a share of the title. Two McNeese wins with a Privateer sweep means New Orleans wins the title outright.
New Orleans did not play their last midweek game of the season due to weather against Southern. Last week, the Privateers went 3-1 with a midweek win against Tulane. They followed it up with a 2-1 weekend at Northwestern State.
Miguel Useche won his second Southland Hitter of the Week award on Tuesday. Useche went 7-for-16 at the plate and had eight RBI. Six of those came in the series opener against Northwestern State on May 10.
Nathan Blasick made the transition to a relief pitcher this season and leads the team in appearances with 22. He has 36 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. Blasick has recorded a strikeout in each of his last 10 appearances which span 12.1 innings.
New Orleans has 28 sacrifice flies as a team this season, which is four from tying their single season record of 32. That mark was set in 1991.
Maika Niu,
Alexander Saunier and
Issac Williams co-lead the team with 4 sac flies each.
In Southland only games, four Privateers are hitting over .350. As a team, the Privateers are batting .303 and slugging .503. New Orleans has 30 home runs in 21 games vs. Southland foes.
This will be the first time since 2019 the Privateers are hosting Lamar. The two teams did not play in 2020 or 2022. The series in 2021 and 2023 were both in Beaumont. Under
Blake Dean, the Privateers are 4-2 against Lamar at home.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Lamar has 39 wins this season and has an RPI of 68 heading into the last weekend. The Cardinals won their last midweek game of the season when they defeated Alcorn State 13-3 on Tuesday. The Cardinals hit four home runs as a team.
Lamar has a team ERA of 3.28 which leads the conference. Southeastern is second at a 5.27. Caple leads the Southland in ERA, Ellis leads the conference in wins and Hesseltine has been a two-time Southland Pitcher of the Week.
WE ARE YOUR KREWE
For 54 seasons, Privateer student-athletes have had the unique experience of wearing New Orleans across their chests. Like the city itself, our sports teams have been fueled by resiliency, grit, and the unquenchable desire to win. Our city also houses the nation's biggest celebration each year. And much like a Mardi Gras parade krewe, we are tethered to our community through pride, tradition, a culture of acceptance, and finally our commitment to show that New Orleans is a world-class city to live, learn, play and work. We invite you to become more involved with the only University that truly represents New Orleans all day, every day. Join #NOLAsTeam, We Are Your Krewe!
Visit UNOPrivateers.com/signup to stay connected and follow us @UNOPrivateers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@PrivateersBSB on Twitter/X,
@PrivateersBSB on Instagram, like
Privateers Baseball on Facebook and subscribe to the
UNOPrivateers YouTube
