GRAMBLING, La.-Nick
Wade
homered twice, Jordy Poche hit a grand slam, Shane Ardoin blasted a
three-run
homer and Josh Gill turned in a solid starting pitching performance to
lead ULM
past Grambling State 19-7 Tuesday night at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Wade's seventh and
eighth
homers of the season came in back-to-back at-bats in the sixth and
eighth
innings. He came within one foot of a three-home run night as he crushed
a ball
to deep center field in his second at-bat. However, Jeremy Shelby pulled
the
ball back over the wall for an out. Wade's first home run of the night
snapped
a streak of 59 at-bats without a long ball after he hit five over an
eight-game
stretch earlier in the season.
ULM has now hit nine
home runs
in eight games in the month of April after hitting 10 home runs in 20
games
in March.
Gill (2-0), who was
making his
first career start for the Warhawks, struck out four and scattered eight
hits.
He allowed six runs - five earned - and issued just two walks in a
career-high
6 1/3 innings of work.
Wade, Ardoin and
Judd Edwards
all had three hits on the night for the Warhawks. Ardoin set a pair of
career-highs scoring four times and driving home four runs. Edwards
scored
three times and Wade scored three times and drove in four. Caleb Clowers
contributed his 18th multi-hit game of the season with a
2-for-5
performance and the Warhawks finished with 15 hits as a team.
Clowers tied the
game at 1-1
with a double down the line in left field after Ardoin led off the third
inning
with a single between short and third. Clowers would come home to score
the go-ahead
run on a grounder by Poche.
The Warhawks
(13-20) pushed
five runs across the plate in the fourth to extend their lead out to
7-1. Wade
had the big blow in the frame with a two-out, bases-loaded double past
third base
and down the line in left field to plate two.
A pair of triples
and a home
run by three of the first four batters in the home half of the fourth
inning
pulled the Tigers (11-18) within three, 7-4.
With one swing of
the bat from
Ardoin the Warhawks got all three runs back in top of the fifth inning.
Following
back-to-back walks to York and Jarrett Hammond to lead off the inning,
Ardoin
hammered the first pitch he saw from Tiger relief pitcher Brian Sinnette
out to
left field for his third home run of the season.
Wade kept the run
barrage
going for the Warhawks as he led off the sixth inning with a towering
home run to
left-center field. Edwards followed with a single and later scored on a
sacrifice fly off the bat of Hammond.
Grambling State
pushed two
across in the in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Warhawks
answered
with three runs in the top of the eighth. Wade led off the frame with
his
second homer of the night, Edwards scored on a double play following his
third
hit of the night and Poche scored on wild pitch.
Poche's grand slam
came with
two outs in the top of the ninth inning after the Tigers pushed one run
across
in their half of the eighth without a hit.
The victory snapped
an eight-game
road losing streak and a six-game mid-week losing streak for the
Warhawks.
John Brown (1-2)
suffered the
loss for Grambling State after he allowed seven runs - six earned - on
eight hits
over four innings of work. The Warhawks touched up Sinnette for five
runs on
four hits in just two innings.
The Warhawks return to Sun Belt Conference play this weekend when they
travel
to South Alabama for a three-game series. Saturday's game is the Sun
Belt Game
of the Week and will be televised live on the Sun Belt Conference
Network (CSS/Cox
Sports Television).
