Early offense backs solid pitching in Privateers’ win over Islanders

NEW ORLEANS – Cortez Dennis went six innings for his first win and the combination of Nathan Blasick and Kyrin Tyson-Long closed out the game as the New Orleans Privateers scored a 5-3 win over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Sunday at Maestri Field.

Dennis routinely pounded the strike zone and worked from ahead in counts during his longest outing of the season. The junior hurler allowed just one walk in six innings and threw 63 of his 86 pitches for strikes.

Meanwhile, the offense pounced early on Zach Garcia. Three runs came across in the opening frame to give New Orleans an early edge. RBI singles by Miguel Useche and Bryce Calloway surrounded a second run scoring on an Islander error.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got a run back in the second when Stephen Hom singled through the right side. The Islanders had runners on the corners with still one out but Dennis recorded a strikeout and a lineout to get out of any further trouble on the scoreboard.

New Orleans scored in the bottom of the second on Useche’s second hit of the day. The Islanders then got a run back in the third. After Chance Reisdorph was ruled to have checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch, he took the next offering into the gap for a double.

The Islanders got to within a run after Reisdorph parked his third homer of the weekend to lead off the sixth. Dennis rebounded to get the next three men out to close his line.

Blasick took over and held the Islanders off the scoreboard over the next two frames. After a Calloway RBI single in the seventh extended the lead to two, the Privateers were able to see out the rest of the game behind Long’s fourth save.

Long walked Mason Persons but got a ground ball that erased the lead runner. He then got Sebastian Trinidad to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. Long needed just nine pitches to get the save.

INSIDE THE BOX
Calloway had three hits and a walk with two RBI. Useche, Maika Niu and Diego Villescas each added two hits. The win moves Blake Dean’s career win total to 249. Privateer pitchers held the top four hitters in the Islander lineup to two hits in 16 at-bats.

Reisdorph had a homer, a double and two RBI. Garcia bounced back from four runs allowed in the first two innings to record four shutout frames the rest of the way. Cole Modgling added two hits.

NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to Hattiesburg to face Southern Miss on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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