MARDI GRAS CLASSIC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | GAME NOTES (PDF)
MONROE, La.-- The Warhawks begin the season hosting the 25th annual ULM Mardi Gras Classic. ULM opens its season Thursday, Feb. 7, against Grambling at 6 p.m. for the first of five games over the next three days.
ULM will face UCSB for the first time in program history on Feb. 8. The Warhawks also face Southeast Missouri State and Wichita State on Saturday. ULM concludes its Mardi Gras Classic against Mississippi Valley State Sunday.
Grambling and SEMO return to Monroe after participating in last year's tournament. This is Wichita State's first-ever visit to ULM and the first meeting between the programs since 2005. The nine previous meetings between the Warhawks and Shockers have been at neutral sites. Sunday's contest against MVSU is the first meeting between the Warhawks and Delta Devillettes since 2010.
Northwestern State is also participating in the Mardi Gras Classic, though the Lady Demons and Warhawks will not meet until March 1 in NSU's Lady Demon Invitational.
All 18 games will be video streamed for free through ULMWarhawks.com. Live stats will also be available online. For more information, visit the Mardi Gras Classic Tournament Central page.
Fans may purchase a tournament pass to all 18 games for just $25 through the ULM ticket office.
WARHAWKS ONLINE: You can follow live stats at ULMWarhawks.com, get updates via Facebook (Warhawks) and Twitter (@ULMWarhawks), and for the first time-watch online for free through ULMWarhawks.com!
WARHAWKS LAUNCHING PAD: The five games the Warhawks play during the Mardi Gras Classic are the only home contests during February. ULM will not return home until March 14.
AT THE HELM: Rosemary Holloway-Hill begins 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.
LAST TIME OUT: ULM went 1-2 in the 2012 Sun Belt Tournament to finish 25-26 on the year. The Warhawks finished seventh in the league with a record of 9-15.
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 16 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 is facing two SWAC opponents in the Mardi Gras Classic. The Warhawks have an impressive 49-6-1 record against the conference. Twenty of those 49 victories have come against Grambling.
SALANOA'S SUCCESS: Salanoa enters 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." - Rosemary Holloway-Hill on the 2013 Warhawks.
