NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team will host the UIW Cardinals this weekend in a three-game series starting on Friday night at Maestri Field. All three games will be carried on ESPN+.
New Orleans split a two-game midweek against Mississippi Valley State. The Privateers took the first game 14-0 and lost the second game 9-7.
Rex Henderson threw four shutout innings in the win. The Delta Devils hit an eighth inning home run on Wednesday to go ahead for good.
The Privateers have parked 24 home runs in 18 games entering the weekend. That ranks second in the Southland only behind their foe this series in UIW who has 28 home runs. The Privateers also rank in the top 50 among all NCAA D-I players in homers.
Owen Smith has been tearing the cover off the ball in the last four games. He is 10-for-20 with three home runs, two doubles and 11 RBI. On the season, Smith is slugging .667 which ranks fourth in the Southland. He has also vaulted up to fourth in the conference in RBI with 21 entering the weekend.
Skylar Jones made his third appearance of the season and finished out the game on Tuesday night against Mississippi Valley State. Over his first three outings, Jones has seven strikeouts to just one walk issued.
The Privateers and Cardinals have played 28 games all-time and New Orleans holds a 16-12 lead in the all-time series however there have already been three series sweeps. UIW swept the Privateers at home in 2019. New Orleans has gone 3-0 against the Cardinals in 2021 and most recently in 2025. The trend has seen a lot of runs at least on one side of late. At least one team has scored 10 runs in seven of the last eight games.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
UIW currently leads the conference in home runs with 28 coming into the weekend. The long ball has been spread throughout the Cardinals lineup. Eight players have between three and four home runs this year. Jake Weaver is hitting .390 on the season and nine of his 23 hits have gone for extra bases.
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