NATCHITOCHES, La.?ULM uncorked
the bats early and never let up in a 17-8 victory over Northwestern State
Wednesday night at Brown-Stroud Field. The Warhawks scored in seven different
innings and belted out 21 hits to snap a six-game losing streak.
Ben Soignier led the Warhawks
going 4-for-5 from the plate with three RBIs. The senior All-American moved
into a first-place tie with Corey Taylor on the ULM career total bases list.
Soignier had four singles on the night pushing his career total to 449. He also
moved into a tie for fifth place on the single-season RBI list with 58.
Jordy Poche and Jon Prevost
each had three hits for the Warhawks, while Boomer Blanchard, Matt Collins,
Matt Laird and Nick Wade all had two hits. Laird drove home four runs and Wade
plated a pair -- each hit a home run for the Warhawks.
The Warhawks (26-22) jumped out to an
8-4 lead after the first three innings and extended their advantage out to 12-4
following the top of the fourth.
Laird had the big blow in the
first inning with his ninth home run of the season ? a three-run shot ? to right
field. Perry Smith added an RBI groundout in the third inning, while Laird and Poche
had back-to-back run scoring base hits in the fourth inning.
Blanchard stole three bases on
the night ? the most by a Warhawk in a game since Glenn Jackson swiped three
bases against Nicholls State in 2005. He also scored three times pushing his
season total to 62 to move into a tied for sixth on the single-season list.
Joe Urtuzuastegui hit his ninth
home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to pull the Demons (21-23) within
4-3. Northwestern State also scored a single run in the third on an RBI
groundout by Lance Lacoste and two in the fourth on back-to-back singles by
Justin O'Neal and Urtuzuastegui to pull within 12-6.
After Danial McHenry retired
the first six batters he faced ? five on groundballs ? O'Neal hit his ninth home
run of the season. n the seventh inning. Urtuzuastegui followed with a flare single to right-center,
but McHenry got Beau Snodgrass to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
Wade hit his third home run in
as many games on a two-run blast to left-center field in the top of the eighth
inning extending the ULM lead out to 16-7. Ryan McMillan scored on the third
passed ball of the night for ULM's 17th run of the game.
Don Williams (5-1) picked up
the win for the Warhawks in 2.2 innings of work. Brett Fredieu (0-2) took the
loss for the Demons allowing six runs ? five earned ? on five hits over 1.1
innings of work.
The Warhawks wrap up the Sun
Belt Conference portion of their schedule this weekend with a three-game series
at Troy. All three games will be broadcast live on 1680 AM in the Monroe area
and worldwide on the internet at ulmathletics.com.
