OMAHA, Neb.?Playing
for the first time as the Sun Belt Conference champions, ULM played the part Saturday afternoon
defeating Creighton 7-2 in the final game of the regular season.
The Warhawks (33-22, 20-10 Sun Belt) found out they won the
Sun Belt regular season title minutes after Friday night's game against the
Bluejays (35-19). The loss is
Creighton's first (18-1) at the CU Sports Complex this season.
Dexter Fontenot ended ULM's
two-game homerless drought quickly hitting a grand slam in the top of the first
inning after the Warhawks first three batters reached base. The blast was the fifth grand slam of the
season for the Warhawks and gave the senior outfielder the ULM single-season RBI record with 65.
The Warhawks pounded out 14 hits on the game compared to
just four for Creighton.
The Warhawks added single runs in the third and fifth
innings on an RBI single by A.J. Siggers and the first home run of the season
by freshman Darren Sutton. The Monroe, La., native
becomes the 14th Warhawk to hit a home run this season as ULM has blasted a school
record 91.
Ben Soignier became the ULM single-season hits leader with his second
double of the game in the fourth inning; he finished the game 3-for-5 and now
has 89 hits on the year. He also holds
the single-season records for runs scored (81) and total bases (161) and ranks
second in home runs (16) and sixth in doubles (18).
Kyle Suire's double in the second inning ? one of five on
the game for ULM
? broke the single-season team doubles record of 130. The Warhawks have hit 134 doubles on the
season.
Kyle Smith became the first pitcher to hold Creighton
scoreless over the first five innings of a home game (either Rosenblatt Stadium
or CU Sports Complex) this season. The
senior right-hander went six innings allowing just a pair of runs on three hits
and struck out a season-high six batters improving to 4-2 on the year.
The Bluejays were finally able to break into the scoring
column in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-out two-run double by Joe
Servais, but he was thrown out by Siggers trying to stretch it into a triple.
Jon Prevost got one of the runs back for the Warhawks in the
top of the seventh with a double down the left-field line scoring Sutton who
led off the inning with a single.
Creighton loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of
the eighth forcing the Warhawks to go to the bullpen for closer Derek
Ward. The junior right-hander induced a
1-2-3 double play from the first batter he faced and struck out Nick Nordgen to
end the inning and pick up his seventh save of the season.
The save was Ward's first since April 2 at McNeese State
and ties him for fourth on the ULM
single-season list and eighth on the career list. He is also tied for third on the
single-season relief appearance list and tied for fourth on the appearances
list.
Zak Moore (4-7) took the loss for the Bluejays allowing five
runs on seven hits in four innings.
The Warhawks open play at the Sun Belt Tournament Wednesday
against Middle Tennessee. The game time
will be announced by the league office Saturday night. ULM
swept the Blue Raiders during the regular season on April 18-20 by a combined
score of 46-22.
