MONROE, La. -- Arkansas State
used a pair of first-inning runs and a six-run seventh to defeat ULM 13-2 Friday
night in the Sun Belt Conference series opener at Warhawk Field.
Four straight hits to open the
seventh inning by the Red Wolves (13-19, 3-7 Sun Belt), including a 3-run
double by Ryan Emery, broke open what had been a close contest all night. Jordan
Castaldo added an RBI double before Drew Granier was replaced by Fraser Adams. Tyler
Smith delivered the final blow of the inning with a two-run homer to left.
Grainer struggled out of the
gate as he issued three hits and a pair of walks to the game's first five
batters. After allowing a pair of runs, Granier got a fly out and a double play
to get out of the inning without any further damage.
Caleb Clowers put the Warhawks
(16-12, 4-6) on the board in the third with a double to right field to score
Jarrett Hammond, who led off the frame with a single. Clowers and Joey Cesario
each had a pair hits to lead the Warhawks.
The Red Wolves, who snapped a
seven-game losing streak with the victory, stretched their lead back out to two
after manufacturing a run in the sixth. A lead-off walk to Emery on a close
call with a full count came back to bite Granier as Logan Uxa would bring home
the run on a sacrifice fly.
ULM got the run back in its
half of the frame and had a chance to take the lead. Jeremy Sy was hit by an
Andy Ferguson pitch to lead off the inning. After he stole second, Joey Rapp
fought off three foul balls before punching a single between short and third to
score Sy. Cesario followed with a single back up the middle and moved to second
on the throw to third to try and catch Rapp. Ferguson was able to get Judd
Edwards to ground out to end the frame.
The Red Wolves added four more
in the eighth highlighted by Todd Baumgartner's 3-run homer. Baumgartner finished
with a team-high three hits while five others had two each.
Ferguson (4-2) tossed seven
innings to pick up the win for Arkansas State. He allowed the two runs on six
hits while walking three and striking out two.
Granier (3-2) finished the
night with eight runs and nine hits on his ledger in 6.1 innings of work. The
Sun Belt's strikeout leader fanned three and walked three.
The teams will play game two
of their three-game set Saturday at 6 p.m.
