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HAMMOND, La. – No. 3 New Orleans picked up its ninth Southland Baseball Tournament victory in program history by way of a 10-9 defeat of No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The eventual winning run came courtesy of New Orleans’ Isaac Williams, whose solo shot extended the Privateer lead to 10-6 in the seventh inning. A two-run blast from the Josh Caraway in the final half inning pulled the Islanders within a run, but the comeback effort came up just short.
UNO’s Jack Williams (7-1) earned the win after tossing four frames, allowing just three runs on five hits. Dylan Cunningham (1) picked up the save after finishing out the final 3.2 innings.
The Privateers struck first in the top half of the second as Andrew Guidry singled through to right field, scoring Miguel Useche. The Islanders looked to respond in the home half before Kyle Khachadourian and the UNO defense closed the door and stranded two runners.
New Orleans doubled its lead in the top of the third inning off an RBI single from Useche, while Khachadourian and the Privateers continued their strong defense leaving the Islanders scoreless through three.
A&M-Corpus Christi plated three runs on a pair of singles through the left side to get on the board and take the lead. New Orleans responded with two in the top of the fifth to regain the lead, including Southland Hitter of the Year Pearce Howard just getting in under the tag at home on an Useche RBI double to right-center field. The Islanders punched back, taking a 5-4 lead following a two-run single to center field from Brandon Petkoff.
A single, wild pitch and a walk would load the UNO bases in the top of the sixth inning, forcing an Islanders pitching change. A pair of two RBI singles from Amani Larry and Howard would put the Privateers up 8-5.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi lands another showdown with No. 2 Southeastern in an elimination game at 1 p.m. CT Saturday with the winner facing No. 3 New Orleans at 6 p.m.
{Courtesy: release from the Southland Conference}