MONROE, La. – The ULM softball team is preparing for its final Sun Belt series of the season, on the road at No.21 Louisiana for a three-game series, set to start on Friday night (May 4) at 7 p.m.
In order to punch their ticket to the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Lafayette, the week after, the Warhawks will have to either win one game in the three-game series, or rely on Coastal Carolina to lose one of its three against Appalachian State.
ULM (24-25, 10-14) broke an eight-game losing streak on Sunday (April 29) when they defeated Georgia State in an 8-5 decision. The bats came alive for the Warhawks who were firing on all cylinders on Senior Day.
Junior left-fielder
Sydney McKay closed out the contest two-for-three at the plate with three RBI, as senior
Paige Murray earned her 13
th win and sophomore Jesse Watts came in for the Hawks to close out the seventh inning, earning her second save of the season.
Louisiana (33-13, 18-6) won its most recent Sun Belt series; after dropping game one to UTA 3-4, the Ragin Cajuns rallied back for a 6-1 game two win, before claiming the rubber match in a 12-inning 3-2 nail biter.
Leading the pack for the Cajuns at the plate is Alissa Dalton, batting .381 with a team-high 28 RBI. Although she's batting only .205, Casidy Chaumont leads ULL with five home-runs on the season.
Summer Ellyson, Louisiana's go-to pitcher, has made 30 appearances for a compiled 1.58 ERA. The sophomore out of Lafayette has 164 strikeouts in 2018, with a season-high 20 strikeouts against Evansville (Feb 9).
As a team, the Cajuns are ranking second in the Sun Belt in both batting and pitching, with a .297 average at-bat, and 2.09 team ERA.
The Warhawks are the only team in the conference batting above .300- with a .316 team average, posting a Sun Belt best 424 hits and 302 runs. In Division I, ULM's offensive success puts them 15
th for batting average and 13
th for scoring, racking up over six runs per game.
ULM and ULL have been rivals since the series began in 1981, but the Cajuns have held the upperhand in the series, 105-27, and have won the last 18 meetings. The last time ULM beat Louisiana in Lafayette, was May 2012, when the Warhawks claimed a 4-2 victory over the then ranked No.5 Cajuns.
Links to live stats and video for this weekend's series can be found at ULMWarhawks.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow along with the action on Twitter at @ULM_Softball.
