The New Orleans Privateers are set to play a three-game baseball series against Northwestern State, the co-leader in the Southland Conference, beginning March 19. The opening game will start at 6:30 p.m.
This matchup is significant as both teams are performing strongly in conference play. The Privateers have demonstrated offensive strength this season, ranking second in the Southland with 165 runs and holding a .295 team batting average, also second-best in the league.
In their most recent game, New Orleans lost to ULM 17-12 despite scoring in seven of nine innings and collecting 14 hits and 11 walks. Miles Curley led the team with five runs batted in and was just a home run short of hitting for the cycle. The Privateers have scored double-digit runs nine times this season but suffered their first loss when doing so against ULM.
With runners in scoring position, New Orleans has maintained a .298 batting average over 23 games. Curley leads players with at least ten such at-bats, posting a .529 average (9-for-17) in those situations. Defensively, Privateer catchers have thrown out ten base runners attempting to steal—tied for most in the league—and their caught-stealing rate of 27 percent is second only to Southeastern’s 29.2 percent.
Recent history between these teams shows that road teams have won each of the last five series; no home team has claimed a series since Northwestern State did so in 2019. Last year, New Orleans eliminated Northwestern State on their way to the Southland Championship Series.
Northwestern State enters this weekend tied atop the conference standings with a 6-3 record. The Demons lead the league with a team earned run average of 4.10 and have issued only 73 walks—the second fewest among all staffs. Offensively, they rank third in both home runs and slugging percentage within the conference.
