MONROE, La. - A seven-run second inning and a
steady effort by starting pitcher Randy Zeigler powered the ULM baseball team
to a 13-5 win over No. 28 Florida Atlantic Saturday night at Warhawk Field, evening
the weekend series at one game apiece.
The Warhawks scattered 13 hits against the
top-ranked team in the Sun Belt Conference and added five extra base hits
against Florida Atlantic pitching. The
13 team strikeouts registered by the ULM pitching staff set a season-high.
The Warhawks (17-18, 5-9 SBC) scored two runs
in the bottom of the first inning after Florida Atlantic shortstop Mitch
Morales misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Taylor Abdalla, allowing Jeremy
Sy and Joey Rapp to score and give ULM a 2-0 lead. Starter Jake Meiers (2-4) forced Brandon
Alexander to ground out back to the mound to end the frame.
Zeigler (4-4) ran into trouble in the top of
the second inning, walking Alex Hudak and Geoff Jimenez on nine combined
pitches to give the Owls (23-13, 11-3 SBC) their first runner in scoring
position. Zeigler struck out Mike Spano
looking and forced Morales to chop out to Judd Edwards at third base for the
final outs of the inning.
ULM struck early and often in the bottom of
the second, kick started by a Corben Green two-run home run. Green blasted a 2-2 offering from Meiers over
the right field wall, pushing the Warhawk cushion to 4-0. Caleb Clowers then laced a one-out single up
the middle and advanced to third base on a double down the right field line off
the bat of Sy. A full-count walk to Rapp
loaded the bases for Abdalla, who ripped the first pitch he saw into the left
field corner, plating Clowers and Sy on a double of his own to up the lead to
6-0. An Alexander single to left scored
the fifth and sixth runs of the frame (8-0), before Edwards rapped a single
over the head of Morales at shortstop for the inning's seventh run to chase
Meiers from the game (9-0).
Mark Nelson lined a 1-1 Zeigler offering up the
middle in the top of the fourth inning to give Florida Atlantic its first hit
of the night. Zeigler answered by
striking out Kyle Newton and forcing Hudak and Jimenez to fly out to Abdalla in
right field consecutively to retire the last three Owls in order.
The Warhawks tacked on two more runs in the
bottom of the fourth inning, the first on an Edwards single through the right
side that plated Abdalla and extended the ULM lead to 10-0. A wild pitch from Florida Atlantic's Josh
Gonzaga allowed Alexander to score from third base (11-0).
Florida Atlantic scored its first run of the
contest in the top of the fifth, as Mike Albaladejo roped a one-out double into
left field to plate Spano (11-1). Corey
Keller then delivered a single to right center off Zeigler, scoring Albaladejo
to close the deficit to nine runs (11-2).
The Owls touched Zeigler up for two hits in
the top of the sixth inning, but the ULM starter struck out the side to keep
Florida Atlantic off the scoreboard and the Warhawks in front 11-3.
Zeigler walked Jimenez with the bases loaded
and one out to push across the fourth Florida Atlantic run of the game in the
top of the seventh (11-4), but bounced back to strike out Spano and Ricky
Santiago swinging to escape the frame.
Zeigler allowed four earned runs in his seven
full innings of work, walking four batters and tying a career-high with 11
strikeouts.
Edwards provided the Warhawks with some
insurance in the bottom of the seventh inning, depositing a 1-1 pitch from
Julian Loret de Mola into the student section behind the left field wall for a
two-run home run (13-4).
Edwards paced the ULM offense with three
hits, four RBIs and two runs scored, while Alexander added three base hits, two
RBIs and scored three times. Abdalla and
Green also finished with two runs batted in.
Meiers allowed nine runs (seven earned) on
seven hits in his 1.2 innings pitched to take the loss.
The rubber match of the weekend series will
be contested at a special 12 p.m. start time Sunday at Warhawk Field.
