Beachum's Grand Slam Not Enough in 7-4 Loss

Friday, April 8

Reese Smith Field

7:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

New Orleans

4/8/2005 10:47:00 PM | Baseball

By: MT Media Relations

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - New Orleans jumped out to an early lead and then broke open a tie game with two unearned runs en route to a 7-4 victory over Middle Tennessee in Sun Belt action Friday night at Reese Smith Field. The Privateers led 4-0 after five-and-a-half innings before Jeff Beachum's grand slam in the bottom of the six tied the game at four. But UNO added two unearned runs in the seventh and an insurance run in the eighth for its fifth win in the last six league outings. The Privateers (9-19, 5-2 Sun Belt) pounded out 17 hits against four Blue Raider pitchers, including 12 against starter Matt Scott. Leadoff hitter Josh Jones led the way with three hits, two runs scored and two stolen bases, while Brandon Bowser, Paul Smyth, T.J. Baxter and Alex Webster all had a pair of hits. Middle Tennessee (12-12, 1-2) recorded just eight hits in the game, with only Adam Warren collecting two hits. Nick Augustavo (2-0) tossed four scoreless innings of relief to get the victory, giving up just two hits and striking out three, retiring 12 of the last 14 batters of the game. UNO starter Ryan Meyer worked five strong innings before running out of gas, allowing four runs on six hits in five-plus innings. Scott (4-1) suffered the loss, allowing six runs, four earned, with four strikeouts. The Privateers struck first in the contest, pushing across a run in the third despite not hitting a ball more than 150 feet. Nick Monica fought off a single into short leftfield to start the inning, and Nate Murray followed with a bunt single when third baseman Nate Jaggers slipped on the play. Jones then sacrificed the runners and Scott turned to throw to third, but there was no one covering the bag and all three runners were safe. Scott then lost his control for a minute and walked Bowser to force in a run. Catcher Michael McKenry helped bail the Blue Raiders out of the inning by picking off Murray at third. A groundout and a popout ended the threat with just the one run coming across but not before UNO ended a 32-inning scoreless stretch against Middle Tennessee dating to 2003. Murray led off the Privateer fifth with a single to left, and Jones singled to right after a 10-pitch at-bat to put runners on the corners. Bowser's single to left plated a run for a 2-0 UNO lead. Jones stole third and later scored on a groundout for a 3-0 advantage. UNO went up 4-0 after Alex Webster's leadoff double in the sixth and an RBI groundout from Jones. The Blue Raiders got back in the game in a hurry in the bottom of the inning, starting with a pinch-hit single to right from Wayne Kendrick. Jaggers followed with a single and McKenry walked to load the bases. Beachum then reached out and lined a ball down the leftfield line, just clearing the wall for a grand slam and tying the contest at four. But the Privateers came right back in the seventh with two unearned runs, all starting with a dropped fly ball in short center by Eric McNamee. Paul Smyth followed with an RBI single and later scored on a groundout by Webster for a 6-4 UNO edge. Smyth's RBI single in the eighth scored Jones and made it 7-4 Privateers. "New Orleans played a better baseball game than us," head coach Steve Peterson said. "At the plate, Matt [Scott] would get ahead of hitters and they kept fouling pitches off and couldn't get the ball by them. "It seemed like Matt was in trouble in every inning and really [they] pushed him hard. But he kept us in the game, but there was just not a feeling that we were ready to go. "Their bullpen came in and shut us down. We chased pitches and all the way around, we did not play fundamental baseball." The two teams play again Saturday at 2 p.m. and conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m. GAME NOTES
UNO scored a run in the third inning, ending a 32-inning scoreless stretch dating to May 4, 2003 ... Josh Archer extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the fourth ... Todd Martin's night ended in the sixth inning with a pinch-hitter, ending his seven-game losing streak ... Nate Jaggers extended his hitting streak to eight with a single in the sixth ... Jeff Beachum's home run in the sixth was his second of the year and first career grand slam ... Matt Scott allowed a career-high 12 hits in the game and lost for the first time since May 3, 2004 ... Nathan Hines extended his hitting streak to six games with a single in the ninth .. UNO's 17 hits tied a season-high against the Blue Raiders (at Southwest Missouri State - March 18).