MIAMI, Fla.?Making
his first Sun Belt Conference start of the season, Kyle Smith turned in a
three-hit masterpiece shutting down Florida International over 7 1/3 innings
leading ULM its ninth win in the past 10 games
with a 10-0 victory Saturday afternoon at University
Park.
Smith improves to 3-1 on the season and has allowed just
four earned runs and struck out 15 batters in his last three starts over 22
innings.
Smith and Derek Ward combined for ULM's (29-13, 18-5 Sun
Belt) second shutout of the season and ended
Ryan Mollica's 27-game hit streak which was the fifth longest in Florida
International (15-30, 7-13) history.
ULM has now equaled its win total from
last season and the victory assures the first-place Warhawks a bid in the Sun Belt
Conference Tournament in Lafayette,
La., May 21-24.
Playing for the first time since being injured in a
collision at first base last Saturday, Matt Collins went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer -- his sixth of the season -- in the fourth inning after Ryan
McMillan led off the inning with a double; McMillan finished the game 3-for-5.
The homer by Collins gave the Warhawks 70 on the season
tying the school record set by last year's squad.
Nick Maragas and Matt Laird kept the barrage of extra-base hits
going with back-to-back doubles following Collins' home run extending the ULM lead out to a
comfortable 5-0 margin.
Maragas gave the Warhawks a 1-0 lead in the top of the
second with a ground out to short and Laird extended the lead out to 2-0 with a
single back up the middle.
Maragas, Laird, Dexter Fontenot, Kyle Suire and Jon Prevost
all recorded a pair of hits for the Warhawks as they pounded out 15 for the game
marking the 10th time in the past 11 games that they have eclipsed
the 10-hit mark.
The Warhawks have now scored 10 or more runs in nine of the
past 11 games.
Fontenot set the ULM
single-season record with his eighth sacrifice fly of the season in the seventh
inning. The senior outfielder entered
the week tied for the NCAA lead in the category.
The Warhawks tacked on four more runs in the top of the
ninth sparked by a two-out single back up the middle by Fontenot giving him 20
RBIs over the past eight games. A.J.
Siggers and McMillan followed with back-to-back doubles stretching the lead out
to 10-0.
Jorge Ramos (2-4) suffered the loss for the Golden Panthers allowing five runs on seven hits before leaving the game in the third inning due to an injury.
The teams play the rubber match tomorrow afternoon at noon
with the Warhawks going for their eighth Sun Belt Conference series victory in
as many tries this season.
