MONROE, La. -- The ULM softball team continues a stretch of six straight home games when it hosts FIU Saturday and Sunday. The Warhawks (16-17, 3-5 Sun Belt) hope to reach and surpass the .500 mark this weekend as well as extend their current season-long three-game winning streak. ULM has lost just one game at home this year. Saturday's series opener marks ULM's 150th Sun Belt contest since joining the league in 2007.
Janel Salanoa's healthy .353 batting average leads the squad and ranks seventh in the Sun Belt. Mackenzie Miller is not far behind, hitting .325 on the year. Kayla Prater and Alexis Cacioppo share a team-high 15 RBI.
In the circle, Haylie Wilson ranks among the Sun Belt's top 10 in innings pitched while Stephanie Routzon leads the squad with nine wins.
Saturday's twin bill begins at 4 p.m. with the second game starting around 6 p.m. The three-game series wraps up Sunday at 12 p.m. Admission to the ULM Softball Complex is free.
LAST TIME OUT: ULM earned its first conference series victory of the year with a doubleheader sweep of Middle Tennessee Friday. Both contests were decided by just one run. In the pair of wins, the Warhawks won the program's 800th game and also the 50th contest since joining the Sun Belt. Saturday's finale was washed out.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: FIU (21-19, 4-7 Sun Belt) enters the weekend coming off six straight losses at the hands of South Alabama and UL-Lafayette. Amber Curry leads the squad with a .318 batting average, but has only played in 28 contests. Brie Rojas has started all 40 games for the Panthers and carries a .282 average with 8 doubles and 4 homers. Aleima Lopez has a team-high 25 RBI. In the circle, Corinne Jenkins has seen the majority of the time. She is 11-5 in 22 appearances (19 starts) with a 3.21 ERA this season and has struck out 88. Mariah Dawson is 4-11 in 19 appearances (11 starts) with a 4.71 ERA and 73 K's. Both pitchers rank in the top-10 in the conference in strike outs.
WARHAWKS ONLINE: Follow live stats at ULMWarhawks.com, get updates via Facebook (ULM Warhawks) and through Twitter (@ULMWarhawks). A free live video stream of the FIU series is available on ULMWarhawks.com.
WARHAWKS AT HOME: ULM continues a six-game home stand this week, hosting FIU. The Warhawks are 7-1 at the ULM Softball Complex this season, including 2-0 in conference play.
BASE THIEVES: In 2013, ULM is 61-of-78 in stolen bases. The mark is best in the conference. The Warhawks' 1.85 stolen bases per game average ranks 25th nationally. Individually, Janel Salanoa (76th) and Mackenzie Miller (91st) are both in the top-100 in stolen bases per game average. ULM 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.
THREE'S THE MAGIC NUMBER: ULM is 12-5 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 rallied from down 6-3 to win 7-6 in extras over Middle Tennessee last Friday. It's not the first time the Warhawks have come back this season. They have outscored opponents 38-22 in the seventh inning or later this season.
PROGRAM MILESTONES: ULM won its 800th game as a program and its 50th Sun Belt contest by sweeping Middle Tennessee last Friday.
AT THE HELM: Rosemary Holloway-Hill is in her 29th season as head coach. She won her 800th game as a head coach at any level in game one of the Middle Tennessee twin bill. 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.
