MONROE,
La. -- After falling to Louisiana Tech Saturday at the NSU Lady Demon Invitational, ULM looks to get back into the win column when it opens Sun Belt play at Florida Atlantic tomorrow. The Warhawks and Owls conclude the series with Thursday's doubleheader.
After a day off Friday, ULM participates in the Florida Atlantic Invitational. In the tournament, the Warhawks take on Michigan State and Florida A&M on Saturday followed by Kansas
and Stony Brook on Sunday.
Senior
Janel Salanoa is riding a seven-game
hitting streak entering the weekend and has reached base safely in 10 straight
contests.
As
a team, the Warhawks lead the Sun Belt with 28 doubles and are second with six
triples. ULM is in the middle of the pack in every other offensive category
thus far.
Individually, Salanoa ranks eighth in the
league in slugging percentage. She is also tied for sixth with 14 runs scored.
Freshman Faith Bohack's five doubles
have her tied for third in the league. Salanoa and sophomore Mackenzie Miller are each 8-of-8 in
stolen base attempts this season. They are tied for second in the Sun Belt.
Miller is also tied for second in the league with two triples.
LAST
TIME OUT: ULM
went 1-3 in the Northwestern State Lady Demon Invitational and finished second
as the fourth seed. Senior Janel Salanoa
led the way batting .667 with a 1.333 slugging percentage across the four
games. She recorded her 100th career RBI on a solo home run against Louisiana
Tech and became the fifth Warhawk to reach the milestone.
SCOUTING
THE OPPONENTS:
-
Florida Atlantic (Games 20-22, March 6, 5:00 p.m.; March 7 4/6 p.m.)
is 6-13 entering conference play. The mark does not include Monday's game against
Eastern Michigan. Carnesha
Thompson's .389 batting average paces a deep Owls roster. Stephanie Call has driven a team-high
nine so far this year. All four FAU pitchers have made appearances this season.
Samantha Messer, Taylor Fawbush and Call each have five
starts and two wins. Messer leads the team with a 2.41 ERA while Call has
fanned 35 to pace the Owls staff.
-
Michigan State (Game 23, March 9, 10:00 a.m.) and ULM meet for the
first time since 1994. The Spartans are 11-7 entering play Tuesday. They are hitting
.281 one month into the 2013 softball season. MSU is led by Kylene Hopkins' impressive .463 batting
avg., while teammate Sarah Bowling
has recorded 19 RBIs. Kelly Smith is
9-2 in 15 appearances in the circle in MSU's 18 games, including 11 starts. She
has a 1.97 ERA with 80 strikeouts and has held opponents to a .206 batting
average.
-
Florida A&M (Game 24, March 9, Noon) and ULM meet for just the
fourth time since 1985. It is the Warhawks' fifth meeting ever against a MEAC
school. The Rattlers enter Tuesday's action with a 4-15 record. Brielle Gordon
leads FAMU in every hitting category except triples so far this year. She is
hitting .345 with six doubles and seven RBIs. The Rattlers have yet to hit a
home run this season. In the circle, Jennifer
Lindsey is 2-10 in 15 appearances including four complete games. She has a
3.76 ERA with struck out 27.
-
Kansas (Game 25, March 10, 8:00 a.m.) takes on ULM for just
the second time ever and the first time since 1986. The Jayhawks are 14-5
entering play this weekend. Maggie
Hull
leads an extremely deep Kansas squad with a .460 batting average and 29 RBI. Alex Hugo's seven home runs give her a
team-best .846 slugging pct. (min.: 25 AB).
The Jayhawks have used four pitchers this season. Alicia Pille is 7-3 and has racked up the most innings and has
struck out 73. Kelsey Kessler has a
team-best 1.94 ERA while Alex Jones has
held her foes to a .190 avg.
-
Stony Brook (Game 26, March 10, 10:00 a.m.) battles ULM for the
first time in program history. It is also ULM's second-ever tilt against an
America East school-the last was against Maine in 1988. The Seawolves enter the
weekend with a 6-9 record. Bria
Green boasts a healthy .439 batting average to lead the squad
in 14 games played. She leads the team with 13 RBIs and has three homers. She
is slugging .756 this year. The Seawolves have stolen only two bases in five
tries this season. Christine Lucido
has made 12 appearances in the circle with three starts. She is 4-0 this season
with a 3.39 ERA. Allison Cukrov paces SBU with 28 K's in seven starts.
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 travels a grand total of 9,642 miles this
season. The majority of those miles come between Feb. 15 and Mar. 14. ULM is on
the "home stretch" of the trip with seven games in Boca Raton, Fla., beginning
Mar. 6.
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
34-of-42 in stolen bases. The mark is tied for second in the conference.
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. Salanoa is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak and has
reached base safely in 10 straight games.
PROGRAM
MILESTONE: ULM needs eight victories in 2013 to win its
800th game as a program.
AT
THE HELM: Rosemary
Holloway-Hill begins her 29th season as head coach. She is
nine 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, 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.
