HATTIESBURG, Miss.?Making the first
start of his ULM
career junior Drew Graham threw a masterpiece on the mound leading the Warhawks
to a 4-1 victory over No. 29 Southern Mississippi Tuesday night at Pete Taylor
Park.
Graham, a
junior college transfer from Cowley
County Community
College, tossed 7 1/3 innings of two hit ball
allowing just one run while striking out seven Golden Eagle (3-1) batters.
The
Warhawks (4-0) got all the runs they needed in the first inning on a single back up
the middle by senior Dexter Fontenot scoring Jon Prevost and reigning Sun Belt
Player of the Week Kyle Suire.
Suire and Fontenot both went 2-for-3 on the night to lead
the Warhawks at the dish.
ULM tacked on a pair of insurance runs
in the top of the seventh inning stretching its lead out to 4-0. Ben Soignier reached on a throwing error by
the Southern Miss third baseman and moved to third on a Suire hit and another
Golden Eagle error.
A third error of the inning allowed Soignier to score from
third on an arrant throw by the shortstop.
Suire scored his second run of the game on a ground out by A.J. Siggers.
ULM's starting pitchers have all gone
at least five innings in all four games this season and have allowed a combined
four earned runs.
Southern Miss had the bases loaded on three separate occasions
but Graham and closer Derek Ward were able to work out of the jam each
time with minimal damage. The lone run of the night came in
the eighth inning when Ward hit Keith Winstead with the bases loaded.
Ward picked up his first save of the season tossing the
final 1 2/3 innings striking out a pair without allowing a hit. The junior college transfer picked up the win
in the Warhawks season opening win over Nicholls State
last Friday.
Brian Leach (0-1) suffered the loss for Southern
Mississippi allowing a pair of runs on three hits in 3 1/3
innings. The junior had trouble with his
control walking four batters, throwing a pair of wild pitches and also hitting
a batter.
This is just ULM's second
victory over Southern Miss in the last nine meetings between the two clubs and
the first in Hattiesburg
since March 6, 2002.
The Warhawks
have a quick turnaround as they open the home portion of the schedule Wednesday
night against I-20 rival Louisiana Tech.
First pitch between ULM
and the Bulldogs is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Warhawk Field and the first 200
kids 12 and under will receive a free t-shirt.
