MONROE, La.?Matt
Laird led an offensive onslaught by ULM
hitting two home runs, including a grand slam, as the Warhawks downed UALR 12-8
Sunday afternoon at Warhawk Field in the rubber game of the Sun Belt series.
Laird finished the game 2-for-4 with five RBIs as ULM (20-9, 12-3 Sun Belt)
pounded out 15 hits on the afternoon.
Jon Prevost (2-for-5) and Nick Maragas also hit homers for the Warhawks,
who have hit 14 home runs in their last five games pushing their season total
to 43.
ULM has won all five of its Sun
Belt series this season and has a 1.5 game lead over Troy at the midway point of the conference
schedule.
A.J. Siggers continued his hot hitting going 2-for-5 on the
game finishing the weekend series 7-for-12.
Dexter Fontenot scored three times after going 4-for-5 from the dish and
Ben Soignier recorded a pair of hits in five at-bats.
The Warhawks jumped out to a 6-1 lead after the first three
innings, but the Trojans (7-20, 3-10) pushed five runs across in the top of the
fifth to tie the game.
Matt Collins quickly put ULM back on top 7-6 scoring Fontenot on a
grounder to short following the first of two sacrifice bunts by Ryan
McMillan. Prevost's solo homer in the
bottom of the sixth extended the lead out to 8-6.
Fontenot and Siggers led of the seventh with back-to-back
singles. The pair moved up a base on
McMillan's second sacrifice and Collins walked to load up the bases for Laird. The Warhawks number nine hitter took a 3-2
pitch from UALR reliever Ashur Tolliver off the bottom of the scoreboard in
left field for his fourth home run of the season.
Warhawk starter Josh Lett failed to make it out of the fifth
inning for the first time this season allowing five runs ? four earned ? on seven
hits in four innings of work.
Derek Ward (3-0) picked up the win tossing 3.2 innings
allowing three runs on six hits and Ben Soignier picked up his second save of
the year throwing the final 1.1 innings allowing just one hit.
Mike Rogers (0-2) took the loss for the Trojans after
entering in relief of starter Nathan Parker in the third inning.
The Warhawks step out of conference for a pair of mid-week
games against Dallas Baptist (20-9) on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) and Wednesday (3:00
p.m.) before a weekend series at Sun Belt rival Louisiana-Lafayette.
