MONROE, La. – The Warhawks (25-15, 9-7 SBC) close their non-conference schedule hosting Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State for single game showdowns highlighted by the second annual Steele Strong Night.
The Warhawks will host Louisiana Tech at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21 followed by Northwestern State for a 6 p.m. battle on Wednesday, April 22.
Tuesday's will marked the second annual Steele Strong Night at the ULM Softball Complex as the team honors form ULM pitcher and pitching coach Lindsay Rittenhouse-Becton's son, Steele.
Steele suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), which is a genetic disorder that affects all of the muscles in the body with the legs being the most commonly affected area, according to the Families of SMA organization.
The inaugural event last season set an attendance record for ULM Softball.
Steele is scheduled to thrown out the first pitch at both Tuesday and Wednesday's game with merchandise with the “Steele Strong” logo being sold throughout both games to support the Becton family.
There will also be raffle tickets available to purchase for a chance to win a zero-turn mower valued at $4500. The drawing will be held on July 27, 2015.
For more information on Steele's story, visit www.SteeleStrong.info. For information on how you can help all families battling SMA, visit www.fsma.org.
For the latest on ULM softball, visit ULMWarhawks.com and follow the team on Twitter (@ULM_Softball) and Facebook (facebook.com/ULMSoftball).
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First Pitch
Tuesday, April 21 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 22 6 p.m.
Scouting the Opponent
Krysta Tutsch and Bianca Duran lead the Lady Techsters (26-13) at the plate with .371 and .386 averages respectively. Duran has picked up 34 RBI on the season and has accounted for 19 runs herself.
As a team, Louisiana Tech averages .298 at the plate.
Duran has also saw most of the work in the circle for the Lady Techsters with a 2.63 ERA through 133 innings pitcher to hold a 13-10 record on the season. Duran has struck out 41 batters to 32 walks allowed with opponents averaging .271 against her.
The Louisiana Tech pitching staff holds a 2.72 team ERA through 239 games with a .258 opponent average.
The Lady Demons (28-14) are led by Brittney Jones and Kellye Kincannon at the plate with the players boasted a .396 and .386 average respectively. Kincannon holds a team leading 48 RBI and has scored 40 runs herself not be outdone by Jones who follows closely with 36 RBI and 30 runs scored.
As a team, Northwestern State averages .314 at the plate.
An evenly worked pitching staff is led by Mikayla Brown with a team-low 1.33 ERA through 63 innings pitched. Brown holds an 8-2 record on the season with 47 strikeouts and allowing only 25 walks.
The Lady Demons have a team ERA of 3.30 with opponents averaging just .251 against them.
Series History
This marks the third time this season the Warhawks have faced Louisiana Tech and the second time battling Northwestern State with the Warhawks taking loses in the last meetings with both programs.
Louisiana Tech holds the series lead over the Warhawks at 33-64, and former Southland foe Northwestern State holds a 54-62-1 series lead.
The Warhawks have the most wins against Northwestern State than any other program ULM has faced in its long history.
Leading Off
•With an off week under their belts, the Warhawks return to action with two mid-week games with in-state foes Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State. Tuesday's matchup with the Lady Techsters will be the second annual Steele Strong Night at the ballpark,
•The Warhawks are looking for revenge as ULM drop games to both Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State in the last meetings.
•The Warhawks sit in fifth in the conference standings with a 9-7 record. The Warhawks are now one win away from tying the single-season record for most Sun Belt wins (10). The Warhawks have two conference series remaining: Georgia State and UL Lafayette.
•With eight regular season games remaining, the Warhawks have a chance to pick up 26 or more wins for the fi rst time since 2011 when the team won 27 games. The Warhawks have a chance to pick up 30 wins for the fi rst time since the 2001 season.
•Senior Alexis Cacioppo has totaled 120 career RBI to move into fourth place on the career RBI standings. Cacioppo is only 11 RBI shy of moving into third place on the list and 12 for owning second place.
•Team RBI-leader, Faith Bohack has racked up 34 runs batted in in 2015. She is one RBI of tying her career-high of 35 set back in 2014.
Game Rewind
MONROE, La. – For the second time in the series, the Warhawks (25-15, 9-7 SBC) rallied in the seventh inning to take UT Arlington to extra innings, but the Mavericks (26-19, 7-8 SBC) pushed through in the eighth inning to take an 8-11 victory on Sunday at the ULM Softball Complex.
After being down 1-2 early, the Warhawks used a four-run, third inning to take a 5-2 lead. ULM would add an additional run in the fourth to push the lead to 6-2.
The Mavericks battle back to take an 8-2 lead in the seventh inning, but clutch two-out hits scored two runs for the Warhawks to force extra innings for the second time in the series. The Mavericks scored three runs in the eight to take the victory.
Eight different Warhawks crossed the plate in the game off of 12 hits. SophomoreVanessa Garcia went 2-for-5 on the day, picking up two RBI and scoring a run for the Warhawks.
Freshman Cheyanne Lyon added a two-RBI single to the offense with redshirt seniorMiyuki Navarrete adding two hits in five appearance and score a run for ULM.
Sophomore Melanie Coyne made the start in the circle going 4.2 innings before be relieved. Coyne would return to the game to end the day with 6.1 innings pitched. With the loss, the sophomore moves to 9-9 on the season.
