UCA Sweeps Series at Maestri Field

A rough week for Privateer baseball concluded with a three-game sweep at the hands of Central Arkansas over the weekend at Maestri Field.

Discussion forum series thread

Josh Somdecerff homered
twice in the series

On Friday night, New Orleans got another fine outing from Bryan Warzek, as the junior southpaw threw 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs and striking out 10.  However, his team fell to 0-3 in conference games that he starts, as the UNO offense could only muster 2 runs on 10 hits, and the Privateers fell in 10 innings, 4-2.

On Saturday, the Privateer pitching staff was blitzed from the outset, as starter John Michael Stephens only lasted 1 1/3 innings, and his relievers didn't fare much better.  By the end of the day, UCA's output totaled 22 hits and 16 runs, and despite homers from Owen Magee, Collin Morrill, and Kenneth Yetter, UNO was never really in this one, dropping a 16-7 decision.

Cody Davenport took a no-hitter
into the 7th inning on Sunday

On Sunday, the Bears' Cody Davenport tossed a complete game. Despite a New Orleans rally netting a run each in the eighth and the ninth innings, Davenport finished what he started, and UCA prevailed again 5-3.

The week began with a Tuesday morning matchup at nationally ranked Ole Miss, a game UNO lost 9-4.

The Privateers (9-15, 2-7) now embark on a 10-game road trip beginning Tuesday night at South Alabama and continuing with a road conference series (Thursday through Saturday) at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Campbell Beats the Buzzer, Beats UNO

Zeke Charles, who returns
in 2018-19, led UNO in
scoring Monday at Campbell

The Privateer basketball season is really over this time, after losing a late lead and falling 71-69 at Campbell in the CBI quarterfinals.

New Orleans (16-17), which led 44-34 in the second half, surrendered the lead to the Camels but regained it shortly after, going up 63-60 on a late Tyren Harrison putback before Campbell hit a 6-0 run.  Then, Harrison's old fashioned three-point play off another offensive board tied the game with 52 seconds left.

That set the stage for the frantic finish.  The Camels' all-everything guard Chris Clemons swished a roughly 30-footer with 20 seconds left.  After a timeout, UNO's Zeke Charles stepped back and swished his own three, his fifth of the game, to tie it with 7 seconds left.  Then, some shaky Privateer defense gave Cory Gensler a clean look from about 17 feet, and he banged it home for the last-second victory.

Clemons led all scorers with 35 for Campbell.  Charles had a fantastic effort for UNO with 19.  Scott Plaisance and Troy Green added 11, and Makur Puou closed his college career with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Discussion forum game thread

More Late-Inning Woes for UNO

Spotty pitching all weekend doomed the Privateers (9-11, 2-4) to a 1-2 conference weekend at Abilene Christian.  New Orleans led in all three games.

On Friday, a workmanlike effort from Bryan Warzek got New Orleans a lead, but up 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth, relievers Mathew Oset and Christopher DeMayo were unable to record an out, and a bases-loaded walk-off double sent the Wildcats home happy.  Jay Robinson led the offensive effort with a 3-for-3 night with two doubles.

Owen Magee's three doubles
led the Privateers on Sunday

On Saturday, a three-run fifth by ACU wiped out the Bucs' 2-1 lead, and they held on for a 6-5 victory. Orynn Veillon, playing his first conference series after returning from a preseason injury, collected three hits.  Starter Reeves Martin allowed 4 runs in just 4 innings.

On Sunday, Owen Magee's three doubles and Cody Ducote's home run led UNO's offensive onslaught in a 14-10 victory. Starter John Michael Stephens lasted just 2 innings, and the Privateer pitching staff gave up 17 hits, but the Privateers' 20 hit barrage overcame it.  Beau Bratton, Collin Morrill, and Robinson also laced three hits apiece.

New Orleans has an 11 a.m. battle at Ole Miss coming up on Tuesday, and will be back at Maestri Field for a conference series against Central Arkansas over the weekend.

Discussion forum series thread

Berzat's Double-Double Lifts UNO

Freshman G Lamont Berzat

Hosting their first postseason game at Lakefront Arena since 1994, the Privateers (16-16) also won their first postseason game since that victory against Texas A&M, downing UT-Rio Grande Valley, 77-74 in the CBI first round.

The game was tied 37-37 at halftime, but the Privateers forced their way ahead in the second half, building a 62-55 lead.  The Vaqueros were able to rally and cut the deficit to 1 at multiple points, but just couldn't quite draw even again.

Freshman point guard Lamont Berzat turned in a dominant double-double performance with 21 points and 10 assists, as well as 4 steals. He connected on four three-pointers.  Fellow freshman Damion Rosser added 14.

Monroe, La. native Terry Winn led four Vaqueros in double figures with 14 points.

UNO awaits Campbell in the second round of the CBI.

UNO Salvages One in Hammond

After a disappointing Friday night loss at Southeastern Louisiana, the Privateers (7-9, 1-2) split a doubleheader in Hammond on Saturday night to win one of three in the opening Southland Conference series.

On Friday, New Orleans headed to the bottom of the ninth leading 6-5, but with two outs and nobody on, Southeastern's Bryce Steckler doubled. With Steckler attempting to steal third, UNO catcher Beau Bratton's throwing error resulted in a tie game.  In the tenth, with a runner on third, Privateer reliever John Barr's wild pitch ended the game at 7-6 in favor of the Lions.

Pearce Howard hit his first
college home run on Saturday

The Saturday doubeheader was played due to fears of inclement weather affecting the game scheduled for Maestri Field on Sunday afternoon.  SLU took game one, 3-1, on the strength of another superb pitching performance from Carlisle Koestler, who already owns wins over ULL and LSU this season.

In the nightcap, though, UNO got its own stellar pitching effort from lefty John Michael Stevens, who allowed just three hits and one run over seven innings.  Mathew Oset pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Stevens, and freshman Pearce Howard drilled his first collegiate home run in the winning 8-1 effort.

The Privateers return home for a Tuesday night contest against Southern.

UNO Blasted in Quarterfinals, Season Ends

The first time around, the Privateers, down four starters, played Sam Houston to a three-point game on the road. Today, with two of those players back, New Orleans was dominated by the Bearkats 85-63 in a season-ending loss in the quarterfinals of the Southland tournament.

UNO didn't count on Sam Houston's Josh Delaney, who posted a career-high with 25 points on seven three pointers. The Bearkats were all over the Bucs early on, sprinting to an early lead on the strength of aggressive rebounding and sharp shooting.  UNO ended up losing the rebounding battle by an embarrassing 45-23 count.

Playing again without its leader in nearly every category, Travin Thibodeaux, New Orleans could not piece together much of an offensive effort to counteract SHSU.  Ezekiel Charles led the UNO effort with 12 points, and outgoing senior Makur Puou added 11 to go along with a team-leading 7 rebounds.

Earlier in the day, the UNO women surrendered 11 three-pointers and could not muster much of a defensive effort in falling in their first tournament game to Abilene Christian, 88-66.

Back in Katy, UNO Bounces Corpus

Freshman G Damion Rosser

The Privateers (15-15) began the 2017-18 Southland Conference tournament the way they ended the 2016-17 event -- by eliminating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, this time by an 83-76 score.

Playing the tournament without their top two scorers, New Orleans dominated from the jump, shooting a blistering 68% in the first half and leading by as many as 17 before settling for a 43-29 halftime edge.

However, the second half was a different story.  UNO cooled off and was unable to keep its turnovers down, committing 21 for the game.  Meanwhile, the Islanders, who missed their first 10 three-point attempts, hit four late and got as close as 4 with 1:11 left, but Damion Rosser hit a critical follow-up off a Makur Puou fast break layup miss to stem the tide.

The freshman Rosser led the Privateers with 17 points, while junior Ezekiel Charles added 15.  Rosser and Charles also nabbed 7 rebounds apiece.  Scott Plaisance also contributed 13 for the winners.  The Islanders' Joseph Kilgore was huge in a losing effort, posting a game-high 29 points.

New Orleans' victory means they hit the floor again tomorrow to play 4th seeded Sam Houston State, again a 5 p.m. tip.  The Privateer women will begin their tournament at 1:30 against Abilene Christian.

Wild (Pitch) Win: UNO Beats Tulane

Jay Robinson's 5-RBI night
lifted UNO to victory

Power from an unlikely source propelled New Orleans to an 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Tulane on Tuesday night at Maestri Field, for the first win in this year's Pelican Cup series.

Jay Robinson's grand slam in the second inning gave UNO an early 4-0 lead.  Still up 5-3 in the eighth, Privateer reliever John Barr came into a bases-loaded no-out situation and, after retiring two in a row, surrendered a Green Wave grand slam to Grant Witherspoon.

But the Bucs fought back in the bottom of the inning, as Robinson again stepped up to hit an RBI triple to cut the deficit to 7-6. He then scored on Connor Pellerin's wild pitch, and after a scoreless top of the ninth for the Wave, Owen Magee doubled, advanced to third, and scored on another wild pitch, this time by Sam Bjorngjeld, for the win.

Magee also homered earlier in the game and was 2-for-4 on the night. Robinson and Collin Morrill also had two hits apiece for New Orleans.

UNO begins conference play this weekend against Southeastern Louisiana, with Friday and Saturday evening games in Hammond followed by a Sunday contest at Maestri Field.

Privateers Drop 2 of 3 to ASU

Warzek continued to dominate with
a 12-strikeout game on Friday

After an incredible pitching effort on Friday night got the Privateers (5-7) off to a good start in its home weekend series against Arkansas State, UNO dropped Saturday's and Sunday's games to cap a 1-3 week.

On Friday, Bryan Warzek turned in another stellar effort, striking out 12 in six innings of work and allowing just one unearned run on a Darren Willis error. Willis later made up for his mistake by tying the game with an RBI single, then winning it with a walk-off single in the 11th, 2-1.  John Barr relieved Warzek and threw five shutout innings out of the pen.

On Saturday, the Privateers and Red Wolves got involved in a bench-clearing brawl after a non-slide collision at home plate that got starter Kyle Arjona kicked out of the game. ASU's Jaylon Deshazier hit a grand slam in the 5th to break the game open, and they won going away 12-3.

On Sunday, UNO starter Reeves Martin struggled, surrendering 4 runs in 4+ innings, and the offense scuffled once again, only mustering one run until they scored two in an attempted ninth-inning rally.  It fell short, though, and so did the Privateers, by a 6-3 count.

In their midweek game, New Orleans did manage some offense, but 15th ranked Southern Mississippi managed more, edging the upset-minded home team at Maestri Field, 9-7.

Tulane is next for the Privateers to finish the homestand at the Maes on Tuesday night.