HAMMOND, La. – New Orleans set a pair of NCAA records and an additional Southland Conference Baseball Tournament record in a 14-1 run-rule victory to eliminate No. 6 Northwestern State on Thursday afternoon at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The Privateers blew the doors off with a nine-run top of the seventh, including two grand slams, which tied an NCAA record last set on Feb. 17, 2018, by Santa Clara. The pair of big flies gave UNO three for the game, which also tied an NCAA mark last set on March 28, 2007, by Southeast Missouri State.
Senior shortstop Darren Willis accounted for two of the grand slams, setting a Southland Baseball Tournament record for most RBI in a game with eight. With the score at 1-0 in the fourth inning, he went the other way with a long ball over the wall in right-center. Willis made history with the second bomb, yanking one over the wall in left-center to extend the lead to 9-1.
Following an RBI base knock off the bat of Gaige Howard, the Privateer advantage ballooned to the final tally of 13 thanks to another grand slam from Travis Gober.
The Privateers struck first in the opening half inning with Luther Woullard reaching on a dropped third strike and the errant attempt to throw him out allowing Kasten Furr to come around and score.
The rollercoaster that is a Levi David start was on full display in the third inning, which started with his fifth strikeout and was followed up with a pair of walks. David sat down Woullard on strikes for out two, but a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position. However, the Demons’ hurler shut the door on the inning with another punchout.
Tagged with the loss, David (2-6) struggled with his command all afternoon, placing just 31 of his 70 pitches in the strike zone. He was on the book for two earned runs with no hits, three walks, three hit batters and seven strikeouts over 3+ innings.
UNO’s Brandon Mitchell (5-2) got the win with four innings of one-run ball to start the game before passing the torch to Haden Erbe and Collin Kulivan, who combined for three scoreless innings to close it out.
The Privateers will face the loser of No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana and No. 7 McNeese at noon CT Friday.
{Press release courtesy of the Southland Conference}