MONROE, La. -- The ULM softball team takes a "breather" before entering
Sun Belt play in full force, but the Warhawks cannot rest against two tough non-conference opponents. ULM hosts Lamar Thursday in a doubleheader then travels to McNesse State Tuesday for a single game. The Lady Cardinals a very similar team to ULM with a nearly identical record
while the Cowgirls has the 25th-best pitching staff in the country entering play
this week.
As a team, ULM is towards the middle of the pack in the Sun
Belt in most offensive categories, but the Warhawks rank second with 33 doubles
and eight triples. ULM's 48 stolen bases lead the conference and rank 20th
nationally.
Senior Janel Salanoa leads the Warhawks and ranks ninth in
the Sun Belt in batting average with a .343. She also leads the conference with
12 stolen bases. Sophomore Alexis Cacioppo is tied-for-fifth in the SBC with
four homers. Sophomore Mackenzie Miller's two triples still tie for third in
the league. She is in sole possession of third in stolen bases (11). Sophomore
Haylie Wilson leads the conference with 83.0 innings pitched.
LAST
TIME OUT: ULM started the Florida trip on the wrong end of a three game sweep against Florida Atlantic to open Sun Belt play but bounced back to go 3-1 in its FAU Invitational games. The Warhawks handled Michigan State 6-1 to snap a four game losing streak and edged Florida A&M 8-6 in a 12-inning marathon Saturday. ULM split its Sunday contests. The Warhawks started with a 6-0 loss to Kansas then downed Stony Brook 1-0 behind sophomore Haylie Wilson's two-hit shutout.
SCOUTING
THE OPPONENTS:
-
Lamar
(March 14, 4/6 p.m.) is in its first season of resurrecting the softball
program and does not have any seniors.
The Lady Cardinals are coming off a doubleheader split with Bucknell. Candyce Carter leads the squad in batting
avg. (.394), hits (26), doubles (8), home runs (4), RBI (12), slugging pct.
(.727) and walks (14). Shannon Millman
and Tina Schulz have seen the majority of the time in the circle. Millman is
6-5 in 18 appearances (12 starts) and has struck out 49 in 80.2 innings. Both
top pitchers saw considerable innings against Bucknell, so don't be surprised
to see spot starter Melissa Smith get the ball Tuesday.
-
McNeese
State (March 19, 6 p.m.) has won five
straight entering mid-week play against Bucknell and its weekend series against
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Lauren Langner leads the squad in hits (30) and
batting average (.370) but Emily Vincent leads in all other offensive
categories, including 6 homers and 28 RBI. Megan Bond and Jamie Allred are both
8-2 with 13 appearances (9 starts) in the circle. Bond has a slight edge in ERA
at 1.24 and in innings pitched but her 75 Ks dominate the Cowgirls' staff. As a team, the Cowgirls have a 1.72 ERA--the
25th-best in the country.
WARHAWKS
ONLINE: With the Warhawks back at home
Thursday, you can watch a live video stream of the game on ULMWarhawks.com. As
always, you can follow live stats at ULMWarhawks.com, get updates via Facebook
(Warhawks) and through Twitter (@ULMWarhawks).
HOME
AT LAST: ULM returns home after 21 straight road
contest for a doubleheader against Lamar but it's a quick stop. The Warhawks
take flight again Tuesday for four more matchups away from the nest.
BASE
THIEVES: The Warhawks finished the 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 last season. Meanwhile,
ULM allowed just 44 steals on 56 attempts--the third lowest in the league. So
far in 2013, ULM is 48-of-59 in stolen bases. The mark leads the conference and
ranks 20th nationally.
SALANOA'S
SUCCESS: Senior Janel Salanoa launched her
second home run of the year and the 18th of her career in Natchitoches, La. The
solo shot made her the fifth player in program history to reach 100 career
RBIs. She entered 2013 ranked ninth on ULM's career batting avg. list.
CACIOPPO
IN THE CLUTCH: Sophomore Alexis Cacioppo homered twice in the
Florida trip. Her three-run blast with two down in the top of the seventh
against FAU gave ULM a chance to win the middle game of the series. Here solo
shot against Michigan State helped insure the 6-1 victory. Both long balls came
with two strikes. Earlier in the year, Cacioppo hit a three-run shot against
Arkansas on a 3-2 count with two out in the top of the eighth. It proved to be
the game-winning hit.
PROGRAM
MILESTONE: ULM needs five victories in 2013 to win
its 800th game as a program.
AT
THE HELM: Rosemary Holloway-Hill is in her 29th
season as head coach. She is six 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 third season in the role and fifth overall at ULM.
FAMILIAR
FACE: Back in January, 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.
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.
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.
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.
