MONROE – After opening Sun Belt play with a sweep of Appalachian State, the Warhawks (17-6, 3-0 Sun Belt) look for back-to-back, conference-series wins for the first time since 2011 as ULM hosts #23/24 South Alabama at the ULM Softball Complex.
The Sun Belt series opens with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 14 with the Warhawks taking on the Jaguars (16-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. The series finale is slated for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday, March 15.
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Series Schedule
Saturday, March 14 4 p.m.
6 p.m.
Sunday, March 15 1 p.m.
Scouting the Opponent
The Warhawks will face their toughest opponent of the season to date in national ranked South Alabama. The Jaguars sit at #23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll and #24 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll.
South Alabama comes into the series with a 16-5 record, 1-2 in the Sun Belt after dropping the conference opener to #7 UL Lafayette. South Alabama picked up an 8-5 win in the series finale to prevent the sweep.
Series History
South Alabama and ULM have faced each other 27 times previously with the Jaguars holding a 5-22 series lead. The last time the two opponents battled was in the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament as South Alabama took an 8-1 decision.
The Warhawks will be looking for their first win over the Jaguars since the 2011 season and the first series win over South Alabama since 2008.
Leading Off
•ULM opens a nine-game home stand with Sun Belt showdown with nationally-ranked South Alabama. The Warhawks look to be 8-0 on their home field for the first time since the 2006 season.
•The Warhawks are looking to win back-to-back Sun Belt series for the first time since the 2011 season when ULM defeated Troy & Middle Tennessee State.
•The Warhawks' sweep over Appalachian State to open conference play was only the second conference-opening series win for program and the first conference-opening sweep, snapping a five-series losing streak. The last conference–opening series win came in the 2009 season as ULM took two of three from North Texas.
•The sweep of the Mountaineers is the first three-game Sun Belt series sweep for the Warhawks since the 2011 season when ULM swept Middle Tennessee State.
•Sophomore Melanie Coyne had a career weekend over the Mountaineers, going 2-0 with a save and allowing a lone run. Coyne struck out 21 batters on the weekend with a career-high 12 in game one of the series.
Game Rewind
Powered by a shutout performance from sophomore Melanie Coyne, the Warhawks topped Appalachian State in the series finale to secure ULM's first Sun Belt Conference opening series sweep in program history.
The sweep marks the first three-game conference series sweep for the Warhawks (17-6, 3-0 SBC) since 2011 when ULM swept then conference member Middle Tennessee State.
Coyne led the charge for the Warhawks pitching 6.2 innings of shutout softball and moved to 4-3 on the season. The sophomore no-hit the Mountaineers (8-10, 0-3 SBC) through three innings and allowed on four hits in the game.
Coyne continued to be lethal on the mound striking out eight Appalachian State batters for a total of 21 strikeouts on the weekend.
Freshman Paige Porter closed the game, coming into the seventh inning to record the final out.
Senior Alexis Cacioppo powered the offense, going 1-for-1 with three RBI, two runs scored and drawing two walks. Cacioppo's four RBI-weekend, moves her to 17 on the season and 109 RBI on her career. She is three RBI shy of moving to fifth on ULM's all-time, career RBI leaderboard.
Sophomore Rochelle Roberts went 2-for-2, extending her hit streak to seven games, scoring two runs for the Warhawks. Sophomore Vanessa Garcia posted a three-hit game for the Warhawks with one RBI.
