UNO Bests Southern; Season Suddenly Over

The good news: The Privateers avenged its season-opening loss and knocked off Southern 11-5 at Maestri Field on Wednesday night.

The bad news: The NCAA has cancelled all spring championships and brought the college baseball season to a sudden end due to coronavirus fears.  UNO finishes with an 11-6 record.

Be safe, everyone.

SLC Opening Weekend: UNO Wins 2 of 3

Hoping to start strong out of the gate this season, the Privateers (10-6, 2-1) rebounded from a Friday loss and took the opening conference series from Nicholls at Maestri Field.

Friday night saw Chris Turpin's solid effort go to waste, as the offense could only muster three runs in a 4-3 loss.  New Orleans rallied with two runs in the bottom of the eighth but could not quite complete the comeback.

Eric Orze: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K

On Saturday, Eric Orze turned in another fine performance, improving his record to 3-0 in a 5-2 Privateer win.  Luther Woullard broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI triple, and Antonio Gauthier followed with his own RBI triple in the eighth.  Orze pitched 7 innings and struck out 12.

On Sunday, UNO mashed the Colonels 9-1, exploding for five runs in the eighth to salt away the victory.  Collin Kulivan threw 3 1/3 shutout innings in early relief of starter Bailey Holstein to hold Nicholls at bay.  Kyle Khachadourian added 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief as well.  Jorge Tejeda blasted his first homer of the year, and the Privateers drew nine walks as a team.

Earlier in the week, UNO pitching held Alcorn State scoreless, and Tresten Kennard had a home run and three hits in an 11-0 victory.

New Orleans has another busy week at home coming up, hosting Southern on Tuesday before welcoming Northwestern State to Maestri Field for a weekend conference series.

UNO Ends on WInning Note, Beats SLU

Robinson became the all-time single-
season three-point leader at UNO

The Privateers ended a miserable season on a positive note Saturday at Lakefront Arena, knocking off Southeastern Louisiana 79-69 in the season finale for both teams.

New Orleans expanded a four-point halftime lead to 12, but the Lions cut it down to 62-61 before UNO ripped off a game-clinching 9-0 run.

While Bryson Robinson set the all-time UNO single-season record for three pointers made, it was Jahmel Myers who was the offensive force in this game, scoring 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting.  Troy Green added 16.  Robinson's shot was off in the final game of a fine Privateer career, as he was just 4-for-14 for 12 points, but he did lead the team with 6 assists.

Demons Dominate Privateers

Junior G Troy Green

Needing a win in pursuit of a spot in the conference tournament, Northwestern State wiped out a Privateer squad that is playing out the string, winning 95-73 on Wednesday night at Prather Coliseum.

New Orleans, long eliminated from the Southland Tournament chase, is playing like it down the stretch.  For the second game in a row, UNO was never in it, falling behind big in the first half and losing by more than 20 in a foul-fest of a game that saw 80 combined free throw attempts.

Troy Green, though, continues to do work, posting 21 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists on the evening.  Bryson Robinson added 12.  Jahmel Myers had 11 plus a team-high 8 rebounds.

The season ends on Saturday night against Southeastern Louisiana at Lakefront Arena, another team without tournament hopes and a team UNO defeated in Hammond earlier this season.

Baseball Goes 3-2 in Busy Week

After getting shut out in Mobile and thrashing Tulane during the week, the Privateers (7-5) took two out of three from Connecticut over the weekend at Maestri Field.

The week had a rough beginning on Tuesday night, as New Orleans mustered just six hits and no runs, while committing three errors, in a 5-0 loss at South Alabama.  They bounced back the next night, however, as Brandon Mitchell's quality start and three hits each from Jamarian Crain, Pearce Howard, and Darren Willis helped power UNO to a 10-1 victory.

Luther Woullard

Over the weekend, the UConn Huskies, already with three victories over last season's national runners-up and nationally ranked Michigan, came to town and lost two of three to the Privateers.  On Friday, the host team rode another solid start from Chris Turpin and a three-hit, one-homer night from Luther Woullard to an 8-3 win.

On Saturday, New Orleans exploded for 17 runs in a 17-8 triumph, with Woullard getting another three hits, including a triple.  Pearce Howard and Salo Iza had home runs, and Gaige Howard had two hits and two walks in the offensive outburst.  Eric Orze had another fine outing to run his early-season record to 2-0.

On Sunday, UNO came back down to earth, getting handled easily 9-2 by the Huskies.  UConn broke open a 2-2 tie in the middle innings to run away with it, as Privateer starter Bailey Holstein struggled, walking 6 in 4 innings.

New Orleans will have one more pre-conference tuneup Tuesday night at home against Alcorn State before hosting Nicholls in the conference-opening series beginning this Friday.