NEW ORLEANS - Sophomore catcher Jeremy Schaffer and freshman shortstop Garrett Cannizaro had three hits each, and freshman right-hander Kyle McKenzie struck out six in his first collegiate start, as the Tulane University baseball team defeated cross-town rival University of New Orleans, 7-1, in game one of the First NBC Cup Series Wednesday night in Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

In a game that took just 1:55 to play, the Green Wave offense pounded out 10 hits and the pitching staff fanned 10 to take a 1-0 advantage in the series. Tulane and UNO will play again on March 9 at Maestri Field on the Lakefront before returning home for the series finale on March 23. With the win, Tulane improves to 2-2 on the year. UNO, meanwhile, remains winless at 0-4.

"It was a tough night to hit, but I thought Kyle really did a good job," Tulane head baseball coach Rick Jones said. "We talked about the key tonight with the wind blowing in like that was to pound the strike zone. No free ones. He only had one walk on the night and that was on a 3-2 pitch. He did a good job of that, we played well defensively, and I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats tonight.

"We hit some balls hard and didn't have anything to show for it. We hit some balls hard at people, but I thought we did a good job in RBI situations - being aggressive early in the count and getting the run in. Those are the things you talk about all the time, and we you see that happen, it's a positive sign."

McKenzie sat UNO down in order in the first and his offense wasted little time getting him the lead. With two away, sophomore third baseman Rob Segedin ripped a double-off the wall in left, Schaffer ripped a laser shot which was misjudged by UNO's Rodarrick Jones in left to put Tulane 1-0, and Cannizaro followed with an RBI single to shallow center to give the Green Wave a 2-0 advantage.

Schaffer padded the advantage with a solo homer two innings later and the Wave tacked on three more runs in the seventh when Schaffer and Cannizaro hit back-to-back run-scoring singles before freshman second baseman Brennan Middleton lifted a sacrifice fly to center. Freshman centerfielder Adam Zabel scored the game's final run in the eighth by reaching on a walk, advancing the bases on a sacrifice bunt and a walk, and scoring on a sacrifice fly by freshman left fielder Blake Crohan.

The contest, however, belonged to McKenzie (1-0) as the rookie from Boston retired the first 11 batters he faced and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He walked just one UNO batter up to that point, but Privateer catcher Tyler Sanford and shortstop Blake Doty hit back-to-back singles to start the sixth. Those would be the only two hits allowed by Tulane all day, but a sacrifice bunt by lead-off hitter Ryan Eden moved the pair into scoring position and a sacrifice fly by second baseman Kevin Berry brought Sanford home to avoid the shutout.

From there, McKenzie handed the ball to senior right-hander Preston Claiborne, who struck out four in 2.0 perfect innings. Junior righty Nick Pepitone, meanwhile, retired all three batters in the ninth to end the ballgame.

"He was under control, 92-93 with a power breaking ball," Jones said of McKenzie. "I thought his change was good too. He relied on his fastball early in the ballgame and he started mixing and getting a better feel for his breaker. When that happens, it'll be tough for anybody."

UNO starter Andrew Richardson (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on seven hits while striking out one in 5.0 innings of work. The Green Wave also roughed up Privateer reliever Kevin DeGrouttola for three runs on three hits and a walk in the seventh.

The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Feb. 24, when they open a three-game series with Lipscomb at 6:30 p.m. in Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for 11 a.m. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.