NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Corben
Green hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs to lead ULM to a 15-5 victory
over Northwestern State Sunday afternoon in the finale of the NSU Invitational
at Brown-Stroud field.
Green, who finished the game 5-for-5,
hit .588 (10-for-17) with a pair of doubles, a triple, a home run and nine RBIs
over four games this week to raise his average to .531 (18-for-33) for the
season. The junior first baseman doubled in his first at-bat, singled in his
second and fourth at-bats, homered in his third at-bat and completed the cycle
with a triple in his fifth at-bat. Green also extended his hit streak to all
eight games this season.
The Warhawks, who belted out a
season-high 14 hits, reached the 10-run threshold for the fourth time this
season through just eight games; last year the Warhawks plated 10 or more runs
just nine times all season.
Les Aulds, Judd Edwards, Caleb
Knox and Jeremy Sy all had two hits for the Warhawks (4-4). ULM scored in seven
different innings and pushed across multiple runs in five different frames.
James Jones (1-1) pitched
around some control issues to pick up the win for the Warhawks out of the
bullpen. The senior right-hander struck out nine Demon batters over 4.1 innings
of work while scattering four hits and allowing one run; he walked four.
The Warhawks opened up a 9-0
lead after their first four at-bats of the game. Green put the Warhawks on the
board with a two-run double down the left-field line in the first after a
two-out error and walk kept the inning alive.
Sy stretched the ULM lead out
to 3-0 with a RBI single to score Knox in the third. Following a bunt single by
Aulds, Edwards punched one through the left-side of the infield to score Sy.
Joey Rapp scored on a double play in the third after reaching on an error to
give the Warhawks a 5-0 advantage.
A single by Sy, a Northwestern
State error on a sac bunt by Aulds and a walk to Caleb Clowers loaded the bases
in the fourth. Rapp hammered a ball to the wall in left field, but came up just
a few feet short of ULM's second grand slam in as many days, Sy tagged up on
the play to score ULM's sixth run of the day. Green followed Rapp's at-bat and
left no doubt about whether the ball would leave the park as he crushed a 3-run
homer -- his first of the season -- out to right field.
The Demons loaded the bases
with three straight singles in their half of the fourth inning, but ULM starter
Kendall Thamm induced a 1-2-3 double play to seemingly squash the rally.
However, Chris Herbert singled up the middle to plate a pair. A walk and a
single loaded the bases for NSU and then two more walks pushed across another
two runs. Stephen Gandy pulled NSU within four, 9-5, with a single to left
field in the sixth inning.
Northwestern State's fourth
and fifth errors of the game helped the Warhawks stretch their lead back out to
five, 10-5. Jordy Poche reached on a throwing error by the NSU shortstop Justin
Martinez and came home to score on batter later when Knox reached on a fielding
error by Martinez.
Green's triple plated a pair
in the eighth and Poche returned the favor with a double to score him. Three
straight walks loaded the bases for ULM in the top of the ninth inning, a
double play and a wild pitch put two more runs on the board.
Mason Melotakis (0-2) was
saddled with the loss for the Demons after allowing five runs -- two earned --
on six hits over two innings of work. Northwestern State sent seven pitchers to
the mound over the course of the game.
The Warhawks return home for a
single mid-week contest against Jackson State on Tuesday. First pitch from
Warhawk Field is scheduled for 6 p.m.
