MONROE, La. – The ULM baseball team is set to embark on its longest road trip since the 1990 season as the Warhawks open a 10-game road trip this week with contests at Jackson State on Tuesday and at McNeese on Wednesday night. The two games are the first midweek road matchups this season for the Warhawks, who are coming off of a series victory at home over Southern Illinois last weekend.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday's games are slated for 6:00 p.m. first pitches, and can be heard on the Warhawk Radio Network.
Leading Off
-ULM travels for its first two midweek road contests of the season on Tuesday (Jackson State) and Wednesday (McNeese)…the two games are the first of a 10-game road trip for the Warhawks that will span across two and a half weeks and will include stops in four states.
-The 10-game road trip is the longest for ULM since playing 10 straight games away from home across 15 days during the 1990 season…the Warhawks opened the 2016 campaign with six games on the road and later played eight consecutive road games due to schedule changes after the severe rain and flooding in northeast Louisiana last spring.
-Tuesday will be just the sixth all-time meeting between ULM and Jackson State (2011, 2014 (home/away) and 2016)….the Warhawks trail 2-3 in the series and have not won in Jackson (2011, L 7-6 and 2014, L 5-2)…Wednesday will be the 188th all-time meeting between ULM and McNeese and the second matchup of the season to complete the teams' home and home season series. The Warhawks hold a 97-89-1 advantage all-time against the Cowboys.
-ULM won both the series opener on Friday and the finale on Sunday afternoon over Southern Illinois to secure its first series victory of 2017 after finishing last season with six series victories…The series win over Southern Illinois moved ULM to 2-2 at home at Warhawk Field this season.
-The Warhawks' Friday night extra-inning walkoff win was the team's first walkoff victory since Danny Springer pushed ULM past UT Arlington with a sacrifice fly back on April 4, 2015…The Warhawks had lost four straight extra inning contests dating back to last season. The last ULM extra inning victory was nearly a year ago to the date, when the Warhawks grabbed a 6-5 win in 10 innings over Southeastern Louisiana on February 21, 2016.
-Newcomer Johnny DeLaCruz leads the Warhawks with a team-high .458 batting average through the first two weeks of the season, while he also leads the team with four doubles as ULM has 21 total extra-base hits as a team to date (17 doubles, four home runs)…On the mound, Chase Beal became the first ULM pitcher to double-digit strikeouts this season with 12 over his two starts, while Anthony Herrera now has nine strikeouts over three relief appearances.
UP NEXT
-Following the midweek contests, ULM remains on the road when the Warhawks travel to face SEC foe Alabama in a three-game weekend series beginning on Friday night before day contests on Saturday and Sunday.
