May 18, 2001
Lafayette, La. - Western Kentucky's run in the Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament came to an end Friday afternoon with a 13-4 loss to New Orleans.
Western (32-27) took the lead with a run in the top of the first inning. LF Matt Fox (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) and pitcher Brian Houdek (Sr., Dyer, Ind.) led off the frame with back-to-back singles against Privateer starter Shaylar Hatch. 1B D.J. Johnson (So., Hudson, Ky.) moved both runners up with a groundout and catcher Ryan Cattell (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) singled to right, plating Fox to give WKU a 1-0 lead. Hatch then got 3B Tanner Townsend (Jr., London, Ky.) to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
The Privateers (25-31) took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second. Catcher Mike Sanchez reached on an error with two outs and SS Chandler Rose singled to put runners at first and second. Houdek then walked CF Donnie Bollich to load the bases and 3B J.D. Huether singled up the middle to plate two runs and give UNO a 2-1 lead. New Orleans added another run in the fourth when Rose led off the inning with a double down the left-field line and scored on a one-out single to center by Huether to put the Privateers on top 3-1.
UNO added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth. DH Jeff Lipari got things started with a one-out double. LF Roland Skinner then singled to put runners on the corners. Skinner then stole second, and Cattell's throw went into centerfield allowing Lipari to score. Catcher Mike Sanchez then doubled to left to plate Skinner and give UNO a 5-1 lead. Huether increased the Privateer lead to 6-1 when he led of the sixth with a home run over the wall in left. UNO added another in that inning when RF Jeff Miller was hit by a pitch. He then stole second and move to third on a wild pitch from reliever John Bartsch (Sr., Auburn, Calif.). 1B Justin LoFranco then singled to center, driving in Miller. Lipari and Skinner followed with back-to-back singles to score LoFranco and make it an 8-1 game.
Western came back with three runs in the eighth inning, all with two outs. Johnson drew a walk to get things started. Cattell and Townsend followed with singles to drive in Johnson. RF Tim Cleland (Sr., Klamath Falls, Ore.) followed with a single to load the bases. Hatch then walked CF Dane Bourque (Jr., Gonzales, La.) and 2B Patrick Ransdell (Jr., Bowling Green, Ky.) to force in two more runs and make it an 8-4 game. However, Jeff Stander entered in relief and got SS Luis Rodriguez (Sr., Rio Piedra, Puerto Rico) to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning with the bases loaded.
UNO added five more runs in the bottom of the eight as Skinner had a one-out double to left off reliever Igor Roiberg (Fr., Toronto, Canada) and scored on a single to right by Sanchez that got away from Cleland, allowing Sanchez to advance to third. Kurt Minnick (Fr., Muncie, Ind.) came in and got the second out, but then hit Bollich and walked Huether to load the bases. 2B Steve Rowell then doubled to left to plate two more runs and Miller reached on an error that allowed two more to score and make it a 13-4 UNO lead. Mack Lambert came in to retire the Toppers in the ninth to end the game.
Houdek (7-4) suffered the loss allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out six in 4.1 innings of work. Cleland, Cattell and Fox each had two hits to lead the Western offense.
New Orleans will advance to play Middle Tennessee tonight at 7 p.m. (CDT).
-- WKU --
