MONROE, La. -- Joey Rapp hit a
two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning to propel
ULM to an 8-7 victory over Arkansas State in game two of the three-game Sun
Belt Conference series Saturday at Warhawk Field. The Warhawks used a 2-out
rally in the eighth to get the game into the extra frame.
Caleb Clowers was 4-for-6 from
the plate with three RBIs, including the two in the eighth that gave the
Warhawks a 7-6 lead. Rapp finished 3-for-6 to extend his hit streak out to nine
games while Jarrett Hammond was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
The Warhawks (17-12, 5-6), who
matched their win total from last year with the victory, improved to 12-1 on
the season when scoring six or more runs and 13-2 when belting out 10 or more
hits; ULM finished the night with 13 hits.
Les Aulds drew a walk from
Todd Baumgartner to lead off the 10th inning; Baumgartner moved from
right field to come in and pitch the 10th. Jeremy Sy, who delivered
a two-run triple earlier in the game, moved Aulds into scoring position with
ULM's third sacrifice bunt of the night. Baumgartner walked Jordy Poche to put
runners on first and second with Clowers at the plate.
ASU went to the bullpen and
brought in left-hander Wes Dagestad to face the left-handed hitting Clowers.
Clowers hit a sharp grounder to second, but Poche was able to cause enough of a
distraction at second base to allow Clowers to beat the throw and avoid the
double play. Rapp then hammered a 2-1 offering from Dagestad between third and
short for the game winner.
Clowers' two-run single in the
eighth came after Hammond led off the inning with a single up the middle and
Shane Ardoin sacrificed him over to second. Following a fly out and a wild
pitch, Sy walked and Poche was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Clowers who
lined his single into left.
Luke Briley (3-2) earned the
win for the Warhawks with 2.2 solid innings out of the bullpen. He allowed just
one hit and one run to go along with a strikeout. Randy Zeigler struck out
eight over 7.1 innings as the Warhawk starter on the mound.
The Red Wolves (13-20, 3-8)
sent the game into extra innings thanks to an RBI single by Ryan Emery with one
out in the top of the ninth after Michael Faulkner drew a lead-off walk and
moved to second on a sac bunt.
Clowers gave the Warhawks an
early lead with an RBI single in the first, but ASU pushed three across in the
third to take the lead.
ULM regained the lead in the
fourth as it strung together four hits for a four-run frame. Ardoin plated the
first run of the inning with a single through the left side and Hammond came
home to score the second run on a throwing error by the Red Wolves. After
falling behind in the count 1-2, Sy hammered his triple into the left-center
field gap to plate a pair.
Just as quickly as Warhawk
Field was filled with a buzz thanks to Sy's triple, it was quieted by a
three-run fifth by the Red Wolves. Three straight ASU batters turned in RBIs on
a sac fly, a double and a single.
Baumgartner, who was 2-for-4
at the plate, was charged with his second loss of the season on the mound. He
allowed the game-winning run and walked two in one-third of an inning. Zach
Maggio led ASU with three hits while Faulkner had a pair of hits and scored
three times.
The teams will wrap up the series
Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Every Sunday is Kids Day
at Warhawk Field and all children 12 and under will be admitted free and can
run on the field with their favorite Warhawk for the National Anthem.
