ULM Warhawks

THE SERIES

Teams: ULM (4-8, 0-0 SBC)

             Arkansas (8-3, 0-0 SEC)

Location: Baum Stadium / Fayetteville, Ark.

MONROE, La. – The ULM baseball team is set for a two-game midweek series at SEC foe Arkansas with a pair of midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons against the Razorbacks. The Warhawks enter the series coming off of a 0-3 weekend at Alabama, while Arkansas dropped two of three games over the weekend at the Frisco Classic.

Probable Starters

Tuesday:

ULM – RHP Cole Hendrix (2017: 1-0 record, 2 appearances, 1 start, 4.76 ERA, 5.2 innings, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks)

ARK – RHP Dominic Taccolini (2017: 2-0 record, 4 appearances, 0 starts, 12.00 ERA, 6.0 innings, 6 strikeouts, 6 walks

Wednesday:

ULM – TBA

ARK – TBA

Leading Off

-ULM is coming off of an 0-3 series at Alabama over the weekend…the Warhawks are now halfway through a 10-game road trip that spans across two and a half weeks and includes stops in four states…ULM is 1-4 on the road trip entering the Arkansas series (win over Jackson State last Tuesday, losses at McNeese (Wednesday) and Alabama (weekend series)).

-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…that 1990 road trip opened with two wins but ULM ended the trip with just a 3-7 mark...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.

-ULM and Arkansas will play just the 16th and 17th games in program history this week…the Warhawks trail 7-8 in the all-time series and lost the last meeting between the teams (1-3, 4/12/2016)…ULM split a pair of games at then-No. 5 Arkansas the last time the programs met in a two-game midweek set back during the 2009 season (ULM won 3-2 and lost 9-10 in that series)…ULM and Arkansas also split a home and home series back during the 1999 campaign.

-ULM and Arkansas first met back on April 16, 1960 with the Warhawks falling 8-11 at Arkansas that day…ULM won four straight games in the all-time series with two victories in both the 1964 and 1965 seasons (all four games at Arkansas)…after the teams had played nine times from 1960-1965, it would be 32 years before the next meeting, the Warhawks' 1997 season opener…ULM won five of the first nine meetings, but are just 2-4 against Arkansas since the 1997 matchup.

-ULM won the series opener and the finale last weekend 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 have been involved with walkoff victories in two of the team's three Friday night games to date this season…ULM saw Alabama come from behind and walkoff with a 4-3 victory to open the series last weekend, while ULM had an extra-inning walkoff win over Southern Illinois on February 24 on Blake Buckman's RBI single up the middle in the 11th inning…the Southern Illinois walkoff 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 have lost five of their last six extra-inning games dating back to last season.

-ULM had four home runs last Tuesday at Jackson State, the first time the team had four or more home runs was March 30, 2014 when the team had four homers against Little Rock…Turner Francis notched two homers against Jackson State, the first Warhawk with a two homer game since Danny Springer's two at McNeese last season (3/16/16).

-Newcomer Johnny DeLaCruz leads the Warhawks with a team-high .409 batting average, while he also leads the team with five doubles as ULM has 33 total extra-base hits as a team to date (25 doubles, right home runs)…On the mound, Chase Cater leads ULM with a 1.86 ERA in a team-high seven appearances out of the bullpen…starter Chase Beal's 15 strikeouts are the most on a staff with five different pitchers with at least 10 strikeouts (Josh Leone/Kyle Backofen – 10 each, Anthony Herrera/Keegan Curtis – 11 each, Beal – 15).

UP NEXT

-The two-game midweek series between the Warhawks and Arkansas will feature a pair of 3:00 p.m. afternoon first pitches. ULM will then wrap up its 10-game road trip with a three-game weekend series at UAB beginning on Friday night.