NEW ORLEANS, La. ? For the second day in a row, the Tigers (0-3) were victimized by a game-winning ninth inning rally. The University of New Orleans (3-0) scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out a 9-8 victory over the Tigers in the second game as UNO swept a doubleheader from Towson at Maestri Field on Saturday afternoon. The Privateers had posted a 7-3 victory in the opening game of the twinbill.

The Tigers, who took an 11-9 lead into the ninth inning on Friday before dropping a 12-11 decision, owned an 8-3 lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning in Saturday's night cap. In the last of the eighth inning, junior third baseman Nick Schwaner led off with a single and Jerad Comarda drew a walk off freshman righthander Tyler Austin, who had shut out UNO in the two previous innings. When Donnie White belted a three-run homer to left field, the Privateers had trimmed their deficit to 8-6.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ryan Eden led off with a double to centerfield. At that point, Austin was relieved by lefthander Andrew Newfield. Newfield walked Jay Morris to put the tying run on base. Schwaner, who had five hits in the doubleheader, lined a double to centerfield as he drove in two runs, tying the game at 8-8. After a walk to Comadra, designated hitter Alan Harris lined a single to left field, driving in Schwaner with the winning run.

“Although it was a tough loss, we were pleased with the way our two freshmen pitched,” said Coach Mike Gottlieb. “Jeff Randolph made the first start of his career and he threw very well. He made one bad pitch and it went for a home run. Tyler was also impressive until he got his pitch count up high and he got tired.”

Randolph, a 6-3, 235-pound righthander from Oakland Mills High School, pitched the first five innings and allowed only three runs on four hits. He had five strikeouts and didn't walk a batter. His lone mistake was a two-run homer he allowed to Comarda in the fourth inning, a blast that tied the game at 3-3.

Junior centerfielder Kevin Collins gave Towson a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap when he belted a solo home run to rightfield. After the Privateers scored a run in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1, the Tigers took a 3-1 lead in the second inning.

In the second inning, sophomore shortstop Chris Wychock led off with a double and moved to third base on an infield out. He scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by junior Max Kelly. Freshman rightfielder Ben Winter followed with a single up the middle. When senior second baseman Gary Helmick doubled to rightcenterfield, Winter scored to give Towson a 3-1 advantage.

Randolph protected the 3-1 lead until the fourth inning when Schwaner singled and Comarda hit a two-run homer to tie the game.

However, the game didn't remain tied for long. With two outs in the fifth inning, senior Matt Collins belted his first home run of the season over the leftfield fence to put the Tigers ahead, 4-3.

In the sixth inning, the Tigers hit a pair of home runs to extend their lead to 7-3. After junior third baseman Steve Yarsinsky led off with a double, Wychock smashed a two-run homer to left field. When senior Aaron Gabrielian followed with a solo home run, Towson owned a 7-3 advantage.

The Tigers added another run in the eighth inning when Kevin Collins reached base when he was hit by a pitch. He advanced to second base when his brother drew a walk and went to third on a double play grounder. He upped the Tigers' lead to 8-3 when he scored on a wild pitch.

Towson missed an opportunity to increase its lead in the eighth inning when Kevin Collins lined out to rightfield with runners on second and third base. In the ninth inning, Matt Collins and Wychock were retired after hitting line drives right at people.

 “That's why baseball is special,” says Gottlieb. “If we hit those balls a little bit to the left or the right, we have a few more runs and they don't win in the bottom of the ninth. I thought it was a bad omen when we didn't score in either of those innings.”

The Tigers, who blasted four home runs in the nightcap, outhit New Orleans by a 13-10 margin. Yarsinsky led the Tigers with three hits while Wychock had two hits and two RBI's.

In the opener, the Privateers took advantage of control problems by three Tiger pitchers to earn a 7-3 victory. New Orleans batters drew 11 walks in the game.

In the first inning, New Orleans used three walks and a hit batter to score a run without a base hit. After shortstop Tyrone Wethers drew a leadoff walk from sophomore righthander Spencer Patton, Eden reached base when he was hit by a pitch. A walk to Schwaner loaded the bases. With two outs, Harris drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch as Wethers scored to give New Orleans a 1-0 lead.

After his rough first inning, Patton settled down and pitched three scoreless innings. Due to his high pitch count, he left the game after the fourth inning, trailing by 1-0. In four innings, he allowed one run on one hit despite walking six and striking out four.

The Privateers broke the game open in the fifth inning against sophomore righthander Charlie Cononie. A two-out double by Harris drove in a pair of runs to make it a 3-0 lead. An RBI single by second baseman Justin Edwards increased the advantage to 4-0. After an RBI single by Nick Mitchell in the sixth inning gave New Orleans a 5-0 advantage, Harris put the game out of reach with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.

the opening game of the doubleheader, Harris went 2-for-3 with five RBI's.

Jake Henderson, the starting pitcher for New Orleans, shut out Towson on five hits through the first seven innings of the game. He walked one and struck out two.

After being shut out through the first eight innings, the Tigers rallied in the ninth inning. Yarsinsky led off with a single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. With one out, Gabrielian drew a walk. Sophomore Steve Freinberg ruined the shutout when he lined an RBI double down the rightfield line. A sacrifice fly by Winter enabled Gabrielian to score to make it a 7-2 lead. After a single by Helmick put base runners at first and third, Kevin Collins reached on an error as Freinberg scored the third run of the inning. However, Matt Collins was retired on an infield grounder to end the game.

In the first game of the twinbill, UNO outhit Towson, 10-9. Helmick led the Tigers with three hits while Yarsinsky and Freinberg each had a pair of hits.

In the doubleheader, Helmick led the Tigers offensively as he went 5-for-10. Yarsinsky also had a big day with 5 hits in 7 appearances at the plate.  

The Tigers and the Privateers close out their four-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. (CST) as Towson tried to avoid a sweep.