MONROE, La. -- Jarrett Hammond
hit two home runs, including a walk-off blast in the bottom of the ninth inning
as ULM defeated Western Kentucky 5-4 in game one of a three-game Sun Belt
Conference series Friday night at Warhawk Field.
The Warhawks had been hitting
home runs left and right coming into the weekend series as they had sent nine
balls over the wall in their past seven games. ULM had hit just 16 homers in
the first 33 games of the season. In addition to Hammond's two blasts, Judd
Edwards also homered for the Warhawks -- his a game-tying shot in the eighth.
Facing Western Kentucky's top
reliever Ross Hammonds, Edwards led off the eighth inning with his second home
run of the season to snap a streak of 24 games and 91 at-bats without a homer.
Following a well hit ball by Les Aulds to lead off the ninth, Hammond hammered
a ball down the left-field line just inside the foul pole for the game-winner.
Hammond's multi-homer game was
the first by a Warhawk this season. His first blast of the night tied the game
at 2-2 in the fifth. Shane Ardoin reached on a one-out double and following the
second out of the inning, Hammond took a 3-2 offering from WKU starter Tanner
Perkins out to left center.
Joey Rapp finished with three
hits for the Warhawks (22-19, 7-12 Sun Belt), while Hammond and Ardoin each had
a pair. ULM improved to 15-3 on the season when reaching double-digit hits. WKU
out-hit ULM 12-11 for the game, but the Hilltoppers did not record an
extra-base hit in the contest.
James Jones (5-1) struck out
both batters he faced in the top of the ninth inning and was credited with the
win. Kendall Thamm, who had started the last three Sunday games for the
Warhawks, allowed four runs -- three earned -- in seven innings of work. Luke
Briley tossed 1.1 scoreless innings as the first man out of the ULM bullpen.
The Hilltoppers (25-18, 10-9)
regained the lead in the sixth with a sac fly by Logan Robbins and a two-out
single by Jared Andreoli.
Rapp cut the lead in half in
the seventh with a two-out single through the left side to plate Ardoin after
he led off the inning with a single. Aulds moved Ardoin into scoring position
with his fifth sac bunt of the season.
WKU took a 2-0 lead in the
third on a sac fly by Kes Carter and a single by Ryan Hutchison. Matt Rice, who
scored on the Hutchison single, moved into scoring position on a throwing error
by the Warhawks. Rice, Hutchison, Ryan Huck and Scott Wilcox had two hits for
WKU.
Hammonds (2-2) suffered the loss
and the blown save for the Hilltoppers after allowing two runs on two hits in
1.1 innings. Perkins allowed three runs on nine hits in seven innings of work.
The teams continue their
three-game series Saturday at 6 p.m.
