NEW ORLEANS – Caleb Seroski induced a double play ball to lock down the save and the offense piled up 15 hits as the New Orleans Privateers outlasted Southeastern 9-8 in the series opener on Friday afternoon at Maestri Field.
With the win, the Privateers are now a game back of the first place Lions.
TURN TWO THRICE
The Privateers turned a 6-4-3 double play against Lions leadoff hitter, Evan Keller to preserve Seroski’s team leading sixth save of the season. It was one of three key double plays turned by the Privateers on the afternoon.
HITS GALORE
The hit parade started early against Southeastern starter, Will Warren. The Lions’ starter surrendered eight runs (all earned) on 13 hits. In his previous 25 starts, Warren had never given up double digit hits.
New Orleans strung together six hits and three runs to respond after a two-run first by Southeastern. Salo Iza’s two-run single gave the Privateers their first lead of the day.
RESPONSE FORMED
After five innings, the two sides were even at 4-4. That’s when the Lions pounced with a three-run sixth on one swing of the bat. Preston Faulkner cleared the bases to give Southeastern a 7-4 advantage.
However, the Privateer offense stayed hot for a big four-run bottom of the sixth that put them ahead. All the runs came with two outs and it started with an RBI single by Gaige Howard. Two batters later, a line drive RBI single from Luther Woullard cut the deficit to one.
Then Kyle Flettrich came in and balked twice in a row to bring home the tying run. A KC Simonich RBI single put the home side back in front.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kyle Khachadourian ate up 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to bridge the back end of the game. Haden Erbe threw five innings in his start and struck out six batters.
The first seven men in the lineup all had multi-hit games. Iza drove in three runs while Woullard scored three runs. Simonich had two RBI while Gaige and Pearce combined for four runs scored. Darren Willis went 1-for-3 with an RBI, a stolen base and a run.
NEXT UP
The series continues on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m.
{Press release courtesy of UNO Athletics}
