NEW ORLEANS – With the score tied heading into the ninth inning, HBU scored three runs to salvage the Southland Conference series finale over New Orleans, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at Maestri Field.
Senior centerfielder
Zane Otten went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while senior designated hitter
Christian Thames singled and drove in a run and senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz added an RBI for HBU (23-20, 15-9 SLC). Junior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson doubled and scored, extending his hitting streak to 20-straight Southland Conference games.
Sophomore righthander
JT Newton (6-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up four hits with a strikeouts and no walks. Sophomore starter
Daniel Endsley took a no-decision, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts and four walks in 6.1 innings.
Tristan Clarke went 2-for-4 and drove in the lone run for UNO (24-23-1, 12-12), while Samuel Capielano also went 2-for-4.
Reeves Martin (2-3) was pinned with the loss, giving up three runs, one earned on three hits with a strikeout and two walks in 1.2 innings. Starter Riley Hodge gave up one run on three hits with five strikeouts and a walk in 6.2 innings for a no-decision.
The two teams were scoreless through six, but Depreta-Johnson ripped a one-out double down the leftfield, then scored on Thames' RBI single to center to put the Huskies on the board.
The Privateers answered in the bottom half as Dakota Dean and Hezekiah Randolph drew back-to-back one out walks, then Clarke delivered an RBI single to left to tie the game, 1-1.
Senior catcher
Blake Thomas led off the ninth with a walk, then senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt that went back to the pitcher Martin. Martin tried to get the lead runner at second, but his throw sailed into centerfield. Thames laid down a sacrifice bunt, then junior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Otten smashed a line drive to rightcenter to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead, then Brintz tacked on a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to three.
Dean led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but Randolph grounded into a double play and Clarke flied out to center to end the game.
The Huskies return to action when they host Sam Houston State in a three-game Southland Conference series Friday through Sunday at Husky Field.
