MONROE, La. -- The Warhawks head to Las Vegas and face their toughest test of the season to date in the UNLV Easton Desert Classic. The Warhawks take on two perennial Top-25 teams in No. 7 Oregon and No. 19 UCLA. They will also have their work cut out for them against Ohio, Seattle, and Brigham Young.
It will be ULM's first meetings against Seattle and Ohio. The Warhawks have seen limited action against Oregon, UCLA and Brigham Young, meeting the schools a combined four times over the program's 31 year history. ULM went 5-of-7 in stolen base attempts in the Mardi Gras Classic, and the stolen base is likely to be key to the Warhawks' success in Las Vegas.
ULM (3-1) is tied for the Sun Belt lead in overall record (with South Alabama) heading into the weekend thanks in part to superb performances from freshman Faith Bohack, sophomore Mackenzie Miller, freshman Kayla Prater and junior Stephanie Routzon. Bohack leads the conference with a .538 batting average (league minimum: one game, 1.5 AB/Game, 2.5 plate appearance/game). Bohack's seven hits and two doubles also top the conference. Prater ranks second with a .875 slugging percentage and .636 on base percentage.
Miller's two triples leads the league while her six hits put her in a tie for second. Routzon enters the week with a 0.00 ERA and is holding opponents to a .097 batting average.
WARHAWKS LAST TIME OUT: Alexis Cacioppo and Prater each started the season with home runs in their first at-bats of the year. Miller had a breakout start to the season, going a combine 6-of-7 at the plate with two triples and five stolen bases. Miller's triples were the first of her career. Stephanie Routzon earned CollegeSportsMadness.com Sun Belt Player of the Week honors for her performance in the circle over the weekend.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
- Birgham Young (Feb. 15, 8 p.m.) started the season 2-3. The Cougar wins came against Seattle and Idaho State. JC Clayton leads the team with eight RBIs while Gordy Bravo has already recorded 10 hits in five games for the Cougars. Hannah Howell has started three of five contests for BYU. Secondary starter Tori Almond appeared in four games, starting two. She has struck out 23 in 17 innings of work. ULM is 1-0 against BYU. The schools last met in 2008 in Knoxville, Tenn.
- No. 7 Oregon (Feb. 16, 11 a.m.) enters the week with a 4-2 record, falling only to No. 14 Florida and No. 2 Oklahoma. The Ducks allowed a total of three runs in their four wins. Courtney Ceo leads the team with eight hits while Janie Takeda has six RBIs. Jessica Moore is 3-1 in the circle with a 0.68 ERA in 20.2 innings of work. She has struck out 22 in her four starts. It is the first meeting between the Ducks and Warhawks since 1989.
- Seattle (Feb. 16. 3:30 p.m.) dropped its first game of the season, 10-0, to BYU, but rallied to defeat Oklahoma State, Southern Utah, Utah, and Weber State. Isabella Geronimo has started all five games and is hitting .438 with two doubles and three RBIs. In the circle, Richelle Ashburn is 2-1 in her three starts with a 3.11 ERA. She leads the Redhawks with 10 strikeouts. This is the first meeting between the two schools.
- No. 19 UCLA (Feb. 17, 11 a.m.) is a perennial softball power. Last year, the Bruins were 36-20 overall. They were led by Stephany LaRosa's .436 avg. LaRosa hit 17 HRs and drove in 61 last season. UCLA went 3-1 last weekend, only falling to Texas A&M by a 7-6 score. Gracie Goulder led the way for the Bruins at the plate with a .500 avg and 2 RBIs. Ally Carda went 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in the circle. The Bruins and Warhawks last met in 2002 in Northridge, Calif.
- Ohio (Feb. 17, 1:15 p.m.) opened the season at East Carlonia where it posted a 4-1 record. After falling to Towson, the Bobcats won their next four contests. Lauren Gellerman leads the team with eight hits, including three home runs and two triples. She has eight RBIs to open the season. In the circle, Kaylin Clark leads the team with a 0.81 ERA while Savannah Jo Dorsey is 2-1 with a squad-best 15 strikeouts. This is the first meeting between the two schools.
WARHAWKS ONLINE: While ULM is on the road, you can follow live stats at ULMWarhawks.com, get updates via Facebook (Warhawks) and through Twitter (@ULMWarhawks).
WARHAWKS ON THE ROAD: ULM will travel a grand total of 9,642 miles this season. The majority of those miles come between Feb. 15 and Mar. 14. with ULM's next 21 contests on the road.
AT THE HELM: Rosemary Holloway-Hill is in her 29th season as head coach. She is 14 wins away from winning her 800th game as a head coach at any level. She is joined in the dugout by Associate Head Coach Sara Vogt. This is Vogt's second season in the role and fifth overall at ULM.
FAMILIAR FACE: Last month, Holloway-Hill announced the addition of Lindsay Rittenhouse-Becton to the staff as the Warhawks' pitching coach. Rittenhouse-Becton graduated from ULM in 2008 as the school's all-time saves leader.
VETS & ROOKIES: The 2013 Warhawks feature 10 returning players and nine newcomers, including eight freshmen. Four of the eight freshmen were high school teammates at Hahnville (La.) High School, where together they were state champions in 2011 and runners-up in 2010 and 2012. Three other Warhawks have played on state championship squads.
BASE THIEVES: The Warhawks finished 2012 campaign with 105 stolen bases, the second highest total in the Sun Belt and also a school record. Base runners were caught just 20 times during the season. Meanwhile, ULM allowed just 44 steals on 56 attempts-the third lowest in the league.
PROGRAM MILESTONE: ULM needs 13 victories in 2013 to win its 800th game as a program.
PRESEASON PICKS: The Warhawks were picked to finish eighth in the Sun Belt by the conference head coaches. UL-Lafayette was unanimously picked to repeat as Sun Belt champions.
PRESEASON AWARDS: Senior 1B Janel Salanoa was named to the CollegeSportsMadness.com All-Sun Belt second team earlier this year.
SUPERB vs. THE SWAC: ULM earned its 50th win over the SWAC in the Mardi Gras Classic with an 8-0 win over Grambling State.
SALANOA'S SUCCESS: Janel Salanoa entered 2013 ranked ninth on ULM's career batting avg. list and needs one home run to take over sole possession of seventh place on the all-time leaderboard.
MAKING THE GRADE: ULM Softball posted a 3.478 GPA in the Fall 2012 semester. It was the highest team GPA among all ULM sports teams. The Warhawks 2011-12 team GPA ranked 41st in the Division I, according to the NFCA. That was one spot higher than Stanford and just below 2013 opponent St. Louis.
QUOTABLE: "I feel like this team belongs, and you'll see new and exciting things happen from them." - Holloway-Hill on the 2013 Warhawks.
