MONROE, La. -- ULM begins a stretch where six of the next seven games will be played in Monroe, beginning with a three-game series against Sun Belt foe Middle Tennessee (4-27, 1-7 Sun Belt) Friday and Saturday.
The Warhawks (14-17, 1-5 Sun Belt) have the potential to make history this weekend: They are on the cusp of winning their 50th game as a member of the Sun Belt and 800th game as a program.
The Warhawks are led by senior Janel Salanoa's .354 batting average. Freshman Kayla Prater leads the squad with 15 RBI. Four of those came on one swing of the bat when she hit ULM's first grand slam of the year Sunday. Sophomore Alexis Cacioppo leads the team with five home runs.
As a team, ULM ranks third in the league with 43 doubles and eight triples. The Warhawks lead the SBC with 55 stolen bases.
LAST TIME OUT: ULM went 1-2 over the weekend at Troy. The Warhawks fell in Saturday's opener, 12-0, then dropped the nightcap 8-6 despite a late comeback effort. Kayla Prater's two-out grand slam proved to be the difference in Sunday's 7-4 win over the Trojans as ULM picked up its first conference victory of the year.
SCOUTING THE BLUE RAIDERS: Middle Tennessee (Friday, March 29 4 and 6 p.m.; Saturday, March 30 1 p.m.) comes off a sweep of Austin Peay in a midweek twin bill. The Blue Raiders' sweep of the Governors snapped a seven-game skid. Samantha Nieves leads the squad with a .306 batting average. She also leads the team with 26 hits, seven doubles, and 14 RBI. Nieves shares a team-high four home runs with Laura Dukes. Dukes is tied for the Sun Belt lead with 21 walks. Dukes' .535 slugging percentage and .457 on base percentage are team highs. As a team, MTSU is hitting just .215 while opponents hit at a .348 clip.
In the circle, Jordyn Fisherback has seen an overwhelming majority of the work. She is 3-13 on the year with a save in 22 appearances and a 4.98 ERA.
WARHAWKS ONLINE: Follow live stats at ULMWarhawks.com, get updates via Facebook (Warhawks) and through Twitter (@ULMWarhawks). A free live video stream of the Middle Tennessee series is available on ULMWarhawks.com.
WARHAWKS AT HOME: ULM returns home after four games on the road. This weekend marks its first home Sun Belt series and MTSU's last-ever visit to Monroe as a member of the league.
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 55-of-70 in stolen bases. The mark is best in the conference. The Warhawks' 1.83 stolen bases per game average ranks 25th nationally.
THREE'S THE MAGIC NUMBER: ULM is 11-5 when scoring three or more runs this season.
SALANOA'S SUCCESS: Senior Janel Salanoa launched her third home run of the year and the 19th of her career against Lamar. She is now one long ball away from tying Megan Miller for sixth all-time in program history.
COMEBACK KIDS: ULM nearly overcame a six-run deficit in Saturday's nightcap at Troy, but lost on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh. They did, however, overcome a four-run hole to win 7-4 in Sunday's finale. The Warhawks have outscored opponents 34-20 in the seventh inning or later this season. Kayla Prater's two-run single tied things up Saturday and her grand slam won Sunday's contest.
PROGRAM MILESTONES: ULM needs two victories in 2013 to win its 800th game as a program and one to win its 50th Sun Belt contest.
AT THE HELM: Rosemary Holloway-Hill is in her 29th season as head coach. She is one win 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, ULM head coach Rosemary 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.
