NEW ORLEANS –
Mitchell Sanford hit a tie-breaking home run in the fifth and
Issac Williams homered twice as the New Orleans Privateers reached the 30-win mark after beating the Lamar Cardinals 8-6 in the regular season finale.
The Privateers will go into the Southland Tournament as the 3-seed with their opponent still to be determined.
Cortez Dennis got the win and
Bryce Calloway picked up the save. Dennis entered with two on and nobody out in the fifth with the score tied at 5-5. After a bunt pop out, Dennis settled into a groove and used a hard biting slider with his fastball to hold the Cardinals scoreless over four innings of work.
Calloway took the ball in the ninth inning and bounced back after giving up a lead-off solo homer. He retired the next three batters, with the last a fly out into the glove of Williams to seal the deal on
Blake Dean's sixth 30-win season at New Orleans.
New Orleans got to Lamar starter, Hunter Hesseltine for five runs in the second inning. Williams capped off the scoring when he blasted his first of two home runs on the day to give New Orleans a 5-0 advantage.
Lamar responded with a five-run inning of their own in the fourth. Five consecutive singles started the inning and the Cardinals got two runs on the board in that stretch. They plated three more on a sac fly, a Zak Skinner double and an RBI ground out to level the score.
An inning later, Sanford came up and blasted a two-run home run. That was four pitches after
Diego Villescas kept the inning going with a line drive single that ended a streak of 10 straight batters retired by Hesseltine.
INSIDE THE BOX
Miguel Useche doubled in his first at-bat to move into a tie for second place on the career doubles list with Kevin McGann at 53. He is one away from tying Scott Schwaner for first place. Williams entered the top ten in career homers with 28. He is tied for ninth with Stuart Weidie.
Dylan Mach went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run.
Logan Hamm went 2-for-4 with a homer. Skinner reached base all three times he came to the plate and had two hits. The Cardinals need one Nicholls loss to clinch the outright regular season title and the 1-seed.
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.
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