Box Score NEW ORLEANS, La. ? New Orleans (21-29, 11-15) capitalized on six UALR errors and plated a run in the bottom of the 10th to hand the Trojans a 7-6 defeat on Saturday. UALR (15-31, 6-18) held a 6-3 lead after 6 ½ innings, but UNO plated three runs in the bottom half to tie things up and Nick Schwaner drove in the game-winning run in the 10th with a RBI single to right.
Having watched its three-run lead disappear, UALR went down in order in the eighth then stranded a runner at third in the top of the ninth. Senior Matt Apfel opened the 10th with a leadoff single, but UNO's David Burch induced a double play from the next batter to kill the rally.
Tyrone Weathers got UNO going in the bottom half with a leadoff infield single, and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Trojans intentionally walked Jay Morris to bring in the potential double play, and junior JR Boling fanned Jerad Comarda for the second out. With two men on and two outs, Schwaner hit a walk-off RBI single to right to score Wethers and give UNO a 7-6 win.
UALR tallied 13 hits in the game with five players enjoying a multi-hit effort, led by a 3-for-5 performance from junior Nate Brown. Apfel went 2-for-5 and hit his team-leading 11th home run of the season in the fourth inning ? a solo shot to left. Junior Anthony Gower hit his second home run of the year (also a solo shot) the following inning, sending an offering from Joe Zimmermann over the fence in left center.
Boling (2-2) struck out seven batters over the final 3.2 innings, but took the loss after surrendering seven hits, three walks and two runs to the Privateers. Starter Adam Champion allowed six hits and five runs (three earned) over 6.0 innings, and left the game with a 4-3 lead.
UNO relievers Randy Verdin and Burch combined to hold the Trojans to two hits over the final 3.0 innings. Verdin took the mound in the ninth with a runner on third and two outs, and struck out the first batter he faced to end the threat. Burch (2-0) got the win after holding UALR to one hit, with two strikeouts, over the final 1.1 innings.
The two teams close out the three-game Sun Belt Conference series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
