MONROE, La.?No ball was safe Saturday afternoon at Warhawk
Field as ULM tied a school record with seven home runs in a 25-10 victory over
Middle Tennessee securing its seventh Sun Belt Conference series victory in as
many tries on the season.
The first inning set the tone for the game with ULM (26-12, 16-4 Sun
Belt) taking a 6-0 lead on the strength of four home runs. Ben Soignier, Dexter Fontenot, Ryan McMillian
and Nick Maragas all took a ball out of the park in the opening frame.
Fontenot finished the game 5-for-5 with two home runs and seven
RBIs and is 18-for-30 (.600) with six home runs, 21 RBIs and a 1.300 slugging
percentage over the past seven games.
McMillan was 4-for-4 with four RBIs, A.J. Siggers was
3-for-5 scoring four times, Josh Chappell went 3-for-4 with three RBIs
while Jon Prevost, Soignier and Maragas all recorded two hits.
Prevost and Kyle Suire also homered on the game for the
Warhawks.
The Warhawks have now hit 63 home runs on the season in just
38 games and are just seven away from last year's total which is the current
school record.
ULM plated runs in seven of eight
innings and had multiple runs in six innings.
The 25 hits tie Wednesday's total against McNeese
State for the most this season and the
25 runs are just three off the school record of 28 set in 1986 against Mississippi College.
Over the past seven games the Warhawks have exploded at the
plate averaging 14.4 runs and 16.7 hits per game and have hit 20 home runs with
a .726 slugging percentage.
In four games this week, ULM is averaging 15.5 runs and 18.0 hits a
game with 14 homers and a .802 slugging percentage.
Kyle Smith (2-1) picked up his second victory of the week
tossing three innings in relief of starter Drew Graham. Smith allowed three runs on seven hits and
struck out two.
Brad Robinson (2-4) didn't make it out of the first inning for the
Blue Raiders (20-16-1, 9-10) allowing six runs on five hits.
The teams wrap up the three-game series tomorrow afternoon
at 1:00 p.m. with the Warhawks going for their third Sun Belt sweep of the
season.
