When theUniversity of New Orleans baseball team ((14-12 overall, 3-0 Sun Belt) playSouthern (14-7 overall, 11-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) today at 6:30p.m. at Lee-Hines Field, Privateers’ pitcher Thomas Diamond will be the focusof Jags’ hitting coach Fernando Puebla.
On February 8,the Privateers lost to Southern 14-7 in Baton Rouge. But UNO pitcher MattCrockett’s (1-1) performance against the Jags a day earlier at Maestri Fieldhaunts Puebla.
Although MattCrockett (1-1) got the win, it was Diamond’s performance on the mound thatPuebla cannot forget.
“We know he canthrow (pitches),” Puebla said. “He was the one who beat us in those firstinnings. You never know what to expect from him even when you try to makeadjustments.”
In fourinnings, the right-handed Kenner native (4-2, 2.32 ERA) struck out five Jags intheir first meeting-something Puebla does not want his team to forget.
“It was thefirst game and you never know what will come in the first game,” he said. “Butright now, the team is having a hard time trying to adjust and that’s what weneed to be successful against Diamond and UNO.”
According toPrivateers’ head coach Randy Bush, Diamond will start again against the Jaguarswhen UNO returns to Baton Rouge after their 12-5 loss to Louisiana State onTuesday. Visits to the Capital City have not been good for Bush where he hasnot one a game this season.
“We are a muchdifferent team then the last time we played Southern,” Bush said. “We aredifferent since playing LSU. We had a couple of mistakes against the Tigers andyou can’t do that against quality teams like LSU.”
Tomorrow, theJags will turn to conference play when they face conference rivals JacksonState University. The Tigers (15-9 overall, 9-4 SWAC) lost both regular seasongames against Southern last season. JSU is holding on to second place in theeastern division conference standings and they will have to make their gamesagainst the Jags count if they plan to have a solid shot at removingMississippi Valley State from the top.
On Sunday,Southern will travel to University Park in Jackson, Miss., where the Tigerswill play host.
Jags’ seniorthird baseman and SWAC Player of the Week selectee Andrew Toussaint has becomethe essential player and heavy hitter that Cador has been looking for.
Toussaint had a.467 batting average and batted 7-for-15 with eight runs against GramblingState.
He will likelygo against another SWAC Player of the Week nominee, Tigers’ right-handedpitcher Jarred Vaughn (2-1, 5.70 ERA). In four starts, Vaughn has struck out 16batters.
