MOBILE, Ala.-Kelvin
York hit
two home runs and drove in a career-high eight runs as ULM crushed Sun
Belt
leader South Alabama 17-8 Sunday afternoon in the series finale at
Stanky
Field. The Warhawks belted out a season-high 22 hits - six for extra
bases - and
scored 11 runs over the final two innings of the contest.
York homered in the
second and
ninth innings and hit a bases clearing double with the bases loaded in
the
eighth inning. The junior left fielder had seven RBIs against New
Orleans
earlier this year and finished the week with 11 RBIs, three home runs
and a
1.200 slugging percentage.
ULM jumped out to a
5-0 lead
after four innings and put the game out of reach with six runs in the
eighth
and five in the ninth. All nine Warhawk starters recorded a base hit and
seven
finished with multiple hits.
Judd Edwards led
the way with
four hits while Caleb Clowers, Perry Smith, Nick Wade and York had three
hits. Shane Ardoin and starting pitcher Jordy Poche each finished with a
pair
of hits.
Wade drove in three
runs and
finished the week with nine RBIs and a 1.053 slugging percentage.
Clowers
doubled twice and drove two runs and Poche plated a pair on a single and
a
double.
Poche (3-3) carried
a quality
start into the eighth inning and finished the game having allowed six
runs -
five earned - on eight hits. He struck out five and issued just one walk
as he
won for the second time in three weeks.
The Warhawks
(14-22, 4-11 Sun
Belt) chased South Alabama (26-15, 13-5) starter Lance Baxter (5-1)
after four
innings tagging him for five runs - three earned - on six hits and his
first
loss of the season. Baxter entered the day ranked 15th in the
NCAA and
first in the Sun Belt with a 1.88 ERA.
Following a
scoreless first,
York crushed a 2-1 breaking ball from Baxter over the wall in left field
after
Edwards led off the inning with a single back up the middle. Wade made
it 3-0 with
a sacrifice fly allowing Clowers to score.
ULM put two runs on
the board
in the fourth after two of the first three batters in the inning were
retired
and the other reached on an error. Hammond, who reached on the error,
stole
second to move into scoring position and scored on a single to left by
Ardoin.
Clowers' second double of the game sailed down the right-field line and
allowed
Ardoin to score easily.
Taylor White led
the Jaguars going
3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Jake Overstreet and Brent Tenner were
both
2-for-5.
The Jaguars mounted
a rally
with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull within two, 5-3.
White
scored after leading off the fifth with a double and drove home the run
in the
sixth with a single back up the middle. South Alabama's other run in the
fifth
was unearned as Brandon Brown scored on a ULM fielding error.
Poche helped his
own cause
with an RBI single to right in the seventh to score Wade after he led
off the
frame with a single between third and short.
Seven of the first
eight
Warhawk batters in the eighth inning reached on base hits. Clowers,
Wade, York
and Poche all drove in runs in the frame, including back-to-back doubles
by
Poche and York.
South Alabama came
right back
with five runs in the home half of the eighth inning. The Jaguars loaded
the
bases against Poche and White pushed a two-run single through the left
side of
the infield against ULM relief pitcher Wil Browning. Following an out
and walk, the third run of the inning came in on
a balk and then Clint Reynolds singled to right-center field to score
two more.
York made sure that
the
Warhawk lead was safe as he hammered his second homer of the game, this
one a
three-run shot in the top of the ninth. ULM scored two other times in
the ninth
on a sacrifice fly by Wade and a single by Edwards.
The Warhawks take
the mid-week
off before hosting Florida Atlantic in a three-game Sun Belt set next
weekend
at Warhawk Field in conjunction with Super Warhawk Weekend. Florida
Atlantic
swept its three-game series with No. 19 Western Kentucky this weekend.
