MONROE, La. -- The Warhawks open the home portion of the 2014 schedule this weekend with the annual Mardi Gras Classic. This year's edition features Southeast Missouri State, Eastern Illinois, Houston Baptist and Grambling.
On the Web
Live stats and a free webstream for all Mardi Gras Classic games are available through ULMWarhawks.com and you can follow @ULM_Softball on Twitter for in-game updates.
Softball Quick Hits
Warhawks Go 3-2 at Plainsman Invitational
ULM opened 2014 with victories against Tennessee Tech and Morehead State. Faith Bohack had a career day against the Eagles with two homers while Jessica Colliver held the squad to just one run. Alexis Cacioppo powered the Warhawks in game one with five RBI. On day two, the Warhawks dropped a 9-2 tilt to Auburn and a 9-8 thriller to Morehead State. In the second game, Hollie Letourneau drove in five on two homers in her debut. On the third and final day, ULM rallied and downed Tennessee Tech 7-0 behind a two-hit shutout by Samantha Hamby.
Stealing Bags
Miyuki Navarrete leads the league with eight steals already this season. As a team, the Warhawks are 21-of-23 stealing bases, which is well above the rest of the Sun Belt. In fact, Navarrete's eight swipes is better than the rest of the teams in the league. While national rankings don't come out for another month, ULM's 21 swipes would lead all but one conference--the SEC (Mississippi St. has 24), but Navarrete's eight steals unofficially lead all of Division I.
Scouting the Warhawks
Aside from the team's impressive stolen base numbers, sophomore shortstop Faith Bohack leads the team with a .438 average and seven RBI. She is tied with freshman catcher Hollie Letourneau with a team-best two homers. In the circle, Samantha Hamby has a 3.29 ERA in 17.0 innings with a team-best 14 strikeouts. Jessica Colliver has logged 10.0 innings and a 3.50 ERA and ranks second in both categories.
The Holloway-Hill File
Head coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill enters her 30th season at the helm of the Warhawks. She is joined on staff by first year assistants Ashlyn Williams and Garrett Furnal. Williams serves as pitching coach while Furnal assisst with hitting and the outfield.
Scouting Southeast Missouri State
The Redhawks are the only team left to open their season in 2014. SEMO is looking to rebound from its 15-33 season last year, but they'll have to do it with a very young pitching staff. The staff features only one returnee... Lindsay Patterson, who appeared in 17 contests last season and had a 5.11 ERA in 24.2 innings. Offensively, the Redhawks are led by Alexis Anderson, who hit a blistering .403 last season with eight homers and 26 RBI. She ended the year as one of the nation's hardest batters to strike out, fanning just nine times in 144 at-bats.
Series History: ULM leads 5-3.
First Meeting: 2/17/08 (ULM won 2-1)
Last Meeting: 2/9/13 at ULM 5, SEMO 1
Scouting Eastern Illinois
The Panthers began the season with a five-game tournament in Chicago (held indoors) and compiled a 2-3 record, with both wins coming against IUPUI. Brooke Owens is off to a hot start at the plate with a .400 avg. and six hits, but all six of Hannah Cole's hits have turned into a team-best six RBI. Stephanie Maday is off to an equally impressive start in the circle. In 14.2 innings, she has an ERA of 1.91 and has struck out 10 thus far.
Series History: EIU leads 4-3
First Meeting: 3/20/88 (EIU won 6-3)
Last Meeting: 2/13/11 EIU 1, at ULM 0 .
Scouting Houston Baptist
The Huskies also come into the weekend with a 2-3 record after first opening the season at the Louisiana Tech Lady Techster Tournament. HBU picked up wins over Jackson State and the host Techsters. Most recently, HBU made the short trip to Texas State where the Bobcats stole a 7-6 win in extra innings. As a team, the Bobcats are hitting a commanding .320. They are led by both Shay Orsak and Kristen Schwirtlich at the plate. Orsak is hitting .556 with two homers and six RBI while Kristen Schwirtlich comes in with a .529 avg., two homers and a team-high seven RBI. Kendall Stiefel has the most innings in the circle, logging 15.1. She is 1-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 15 strikeouts on the season. This is HBU's first-ever trip to Monroe.
Series History: ULM leads 2-0
First Meeting: 2/26/10 (ULM won 2-0)
Last Meeting: 2/27/10, ULM 8, HBU 0 in Corpus Christi, Texas
Scouting Grambling State
The Lady Tigers' coach Wilbert Early predicted the squad will make a turnaround after going 11-35 last year. They will look to outfielder Alyssa Fontillas to lead the team at the plate.
Series History: ULM leads 19-3-1
First Meeting: 3/23/84 (ULM won, 6-1
Last Meeting: 2/7/13 at ULM 8, GSU 0 (5)
Sun Belt Standings
1. South Alabama 5-0 1.000
2. Texas State 4-1 .800
3. WKU 3-1-1 .700
4. ULM 3-2 .600
4. UT Arlington 3-2 .600
6. UL-Lafayette 2-2-1 .500
6. Troy 2-2-1 .500
-- Georgia State 0-0 ---
