MONROE, La. - A five-run surge in the bottom
of the third inning powered the ULM baseball team to a 7-4 victory over UALR
Sunday at Warhawk Field.
With the win, the Warhawks have claimed three
straight Sun Belt Conference series and four of the last five meetings with
conference opponents.
A perfectly executed hit and run single in the
third inning by Caleb Clowers moved Les Aulds into scoring position at third
base after Aulds worked a leadoff walk. An
RBI single to left center field by Jeremy Sy scored Aulds and gave ULM (24-24,
11-13 SBC) its first lead of the afternoon 2-1.
Joey Rapp delivered a two-run double to right center field to score
Clowers and Sy and chase starter Cameron Allen (1-1) from the contest
(4-1). Back-to-back bunt singles by
Corben Green and Judd Edwards loaded the bases for Brandon Alexander. Alexander's sacrifice fly off reliever
Marshal Hamrick pushed the Warhawk lead to 5-1.
A Logan Fiasco RBI double down the left field line scored Green from
third base (6-1).
Rapp and Sy paced the ULM offense with
3-for-4 afternoons, each driving in two runs.
Clowers extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 20
with two hits and two runs scored.
Nick Rountree laced a two-out single through
the left side off ULM starter Cale Wine (6-4) in the top of the first inning,
scoring Ben Crumpton from second and giving UALR (23-24, 10-14 SBC) a 1-0
lead. Wine struck out Blake Johnson
looking to end the inning.
Clowers roped a hard shot to the gap in right
center field against Allen in the bottom of the first inning for a one-out
double. Sy laced a double of his own
into left field, scoring Clowers to tie the game 1-1.
Wine retired the Trojans in order in the top
of the fourth inning, striking out Rountree and Johnson before forcing a Myles
Parma fly out to cap his third consecutive shutout frame.
The Warhawks needed just seven pitches to
retire the UALR side in order in the top of the seventh inning. Rountree fouled out to Rapp at first, Johnson
flied out to Alexander in center and Parma grounded out to Clowers at second to
give Wine his sixth straight scoreless inning of work.
Wine allowed six hits in eight full innings,
walking none and striking out six on 105 pitches to earn the win.
Sy rapped a hard single off first baseman
John Clark's glove to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, and a Rapp
single to right center moved Sy into scoring position at third base. An Edwards sacrifice fly scored Sy and upped
the ULM lead to 7-1.
Cameron Bentley scored on a Warhawk error in
the top of the ninth inning to close the deficit to 7-2. A Rountree RBI single to right field brought
the Trojans within four runs (7-3). Wil
Browning struck Johnson out swinging on a full-count offering for the first out
of the frame, and Rountree was put out at second base on a fielder's choice 3-6. Kaleb Jobe grounded out to Rapp at first base
to end the game.
Bentley, Rountree, Ben Crumpton and Chris Burke
led UALR with two hits apiece. Allen
allowed five earned runs on five hits in two innings of work to take the loss.
ULM travels to Troy for a Sun Belt Conference
series next weekend. First pitch Friday is
scheduled for 6 p.m.
