MONROE, La. - For
the second consecutive night, the ULM pitching staff combined to throw a
shutout as ULM improved to 2-0 on the season with a 12-0 victory over Alcorn
State (0-3) Saturday night at Warhawk Field.
Shelby Aulds (1-0) tossed six strong innings and struck
out a career-high 10 batters in his season debut. His previous high for strikeouts was six
against Mississippi Valley State on April 19, 2011. During his 85-pitch outing, Aulds scattered
four hits and walke a pair.
"We didn't swing the bats well early on, but we did hit
the ball hard and we did they made some plays." said head coach Jeff Schexnaider. "We had the big third inning and when you get
a big inning and have good defense and strong pitching you have a good chance
to win."
After two-and-a-half innings of scoreless baseball, the
Warhawks blew the game open with six runs in the bottom of the third
inning. Jeff Fuller started the inning
with a walk and stolen base and later scored the game's first run on a RBI
single by Dalton Herrington. After Judd
Edwards reached on an error, Corben Green drove home Herrington with a RBI
single through the right side to give ULM a 2-0 advantage. Kodie Tidwell capped the inning with his
first collegiate hit, a three-run homerun over the wall in right center to push
the lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Dalton Herrington scored thanks
to an errant throw by the catcher after he and Edwards were successful on a
double steal. Herrington's second run of
the game gave ULM a 7-0 lead.
In the home half of the seventh, Ryan Bergeron entered as
a pinch hitter and delivered a two-RBI single to the gap in left center to highlight
a three run inning. ULM added two more
runs in the bottom of the eighth to complete the scoring and set the final
tally at 12-0.
Devin Malone earned his first career save after tossing
three scoreless innings. Malone struck
out three batters while allowing just one hit with two walks during his first
outing of the season.
Kodie Tidwell highlighted the Warhawk attack on Saturday
as the rookie finished with two hits, two runs and three RBI.
Alcorn starter Justin Lemond took the loss and falls to
0-1 on the season after allowing two earned runs (six total) on three hits and
three walks. In all, the Braves used
four pitchers against ULM.
ULM will return to action tomorrow with a pair of games
beginning at 11 a.m. The squad will face
Wake Forest at 11 a.m., followed by a 3 p.m. tilt against Alcorn State. Both games can be heard live on 540 AM in
Monore with pre-game beginning approximately 15 minutes before first pitch.
