JONESBORO, Ark. - The ULM baseball team did
not trail for the second consecutive day, scoring four runs in both the fourth
and seventh innings to defeat Arkansas State 10-1 Sunday afternoon at Tomlinson
Stadium.
The Warhawks stole a season-high seven bases,
and were one walk from tying a season-best (7).
The two games to one series win was the first conference series triumph
of 2012.
ULM (16-15, 4-8 SBC) pushed across the first
run of the ballgame in the top of the second inning. Taylor Abdalla reached on a two-base fielding
error by Arkansas State's Claude Johnson, and then moved to third base on a
sacrifice bunt by Brandon Alexander.
Judd Edwards lined a Cory Kyle (2-3) one-out offering through the right
side to score Abdalla and give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead.
The Red Wolves (18-15, 8-4 SBC) threatened in
the bottom of the second inning. Johnson
led off the frame with a single to left field and then moved to second after
Ryan Emery drew a 3-2 walk against Andrew Richardson. Shortstop Jeremy Sy made a nice play on a
sharply hit grounder up the middle by Dustin Jones to get the force at second
base, setting up the 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Ryan Roberts to end the
inning.
Les Aulds opened the top of the third inning
with a four-pitch walk against Kyle before moving into scoring position with a
stolen base. A Caleb Clowers fly out to
center field slid Aulds over to third base.
A Kyle wild pitch with Sy at the plate enabled Aulds to score on the
play and push the Warhawk lead to 2-0.
Richardson sat the Red Wolves down in order
in the bottom half of the third inning, forcing a pair of fly ball outs by Zach
Maggio and Michael Faulkner and striking out Collin Massanelli swinging on an
active off-speed pitch.
ULM tacked on four runs in the top of the
fourth, as a base knock by Edwards to right field scored Alexander all the way
from first base to extend the cushion to 3-0 and chase Kyle from the game. Arkansas State reliever Brandon Farley quickly
retired Corben Green and Logan Fiasco after entering the contest, but Aulds
came through with a two-out base hit to right that plated Edwards from second
base (4-0). A balk called on Farley and
a single up the middle by Sy brought in two more runs to up the advantage to
6-0.
Edwards powered the Warhawk offense with two
base hits and three RBIs. Aulds, Abdalla
and Alexander each scored two runs apiece.
Thamm allowed one hit in his 5.2 innings of work, striking out two
batters.
Arkansas State got on the scoreboard in the
bottom of the fourth inning, as Jones drew a five-pitch walk from Kendall Thamm
(2-1) with the bases loaded to trim the deficit to 6-1. Thamm answered by forcing pinch hitter Daniel
Short to bounce into the 4-6-3 double play to withstand the Red Wolf onslaught.
Thamm sat down the next six batters he faced,
needing only nine pitches to retire the side in the bottom of the sixth
inning.
Joey Rapp laced his fourth double of the
weekend to the gap in left center field off Seth McWilliams, scoring Sy from
first base to extend the ULM lead back to six runs (7-1) in the top of the
seventh inning. A sacrifice fly from
Edwards and an RBI single off the bat of Green extended the lead to 9-1. A throwing error by the second baseman Maggio
allowed Alexander to score from third base (10-1).
The Warhawks travel to Waco, Texas to open a
two-game midweek series against Baylor Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
