UNO secures early lead, captures opener over McNeese

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers (17-10, 4-3) took advantage of some early errors in a 9-5 win over the McNeese Cowboys (16-14, 3-4) on Friday evening at Maestri Field.

A little rewind to the series opener last night.

Goal 2 of the weekend up next!#NOLAsTeam ⚔ pic.twitter.com/tCD8qz9Yam

— New Orleans ⚾️ (@PrivateersBSB) April 9, 2022

DECISIONS
Tyler LeBlanc (5-0) picked up his team-leading fifth win of the season. He went seven innings and threw 118 pitches. The loss was charged to Grant Rogers who gave up eight runs (two earned) in five innings of work.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Three Cowboy errors set the early stage and the Privateers capitalized for three runs in the opening frame. The only hit came when Travis Gober lined a double into right, which scored Anthony Herron Jr. to make the lead 3-0 after one.

Two more errors by the road team in the third helped lead to two more Privateer runs. An RBI single from Pearce Howard and an RBI groundout from Gober pushed the New Orleans lead to 5-0.

The Cowboys settled in and formed a response in the sixth when they scored three runs and sliced the New Orleans lead in half. Back-to-back singles and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs.

Then one of two Privateer errors with Brad Burckel batting, scored both. An RBI groundout from Peyton Johnson moved the score to 6-3. However, the Privateers got all three runs back in the bottom of the frame on RBI singles from Issac Williams and Kasten Furr and a sac fly from Howard.

Kyle Khachadourian came in and closed the door as he threw two scoreless innings. The Privateers also turned two double plays, bringing their season total of twin killings to 30. They came into the weekend ranked fourth in the nation in that category.

INSIDE THE BOX
Amani Larry hit a double and scored three runs. Howard and Gober had two RBI each. Tyler Bischke extended his hitting streak to 12 with a single in the sixth inning. The Privateers are now 3-0 in Southland series openers.

NEXT UP
The series continues with a 2 p.m. scheduled first pitch on Saturday.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow @PrivateersBSB on Twitter, @PrivateersBSB on Instagram, like Privateers Baseball on Facebook and subscribe to the UNOPrivateers YouTube channel.