LeBlanc goes five innings in collegiate debut but Privateers fall to Braves in series finale

NEW ORLEANS – Tyler LeBlanc went five innings in his first collegiate start but the Bradley Braves (3-3) broke a tie with a two-out single in the seventh inning of a 6-3 win over the New Orleans Privateers (5-6) on Sunday at Maestri Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Privateers fell behind 3-0 after the first two innings when the Braves had five hits and cashed in on an early error. Three of those five hits were bunt singles from Ryan Vogel (twice) and Jackson Chatterton.

New Orleans rallied back in the fourth inning when Issac Williams drove in a pair of runs on a line drive single to center. The Privateers leveled the score in the fifth inning after a single, walk and hit batter set the table. Pearce Howard then tied the score on a sac fly which scored Darren Willis.

Bradley went ahead for good in the seventh inning. After a leadoff single by Brendan Dougherty and an ensuing stolen base, Connor O’Brien singled through the left side three batters later to bring in the go-ahead run. Carl Valk added insurance with a two-run double in the ninth.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
LeBlanc retired eight straight at one point and went five innings with three runs allowed. He struck out four batters in his debut. Cristian Poche also threw a scoreless inning. New Orleans hitters drew five walks. Travis Gober had two free passes.

Kasten Furr, Howard and Willis each scored a run in the defeat. Matt Barthelemy also made his Privateer debut on the mound and pitched 1.1 innings.

NEXT UP
The Privateers will face LSU on Wednesday, Mar. 10 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on Cox Sports Television.