MONROE, La. – Head softball coach Corey Lyon could not have said it any better, "It's a great day to be a Warhawk." Lyon and his 21-4, 8-7 Warhawks have reigned victorious in nine of their last ten contests, including today's double-header against the Mavericks. ULM defeated Sun Belt opponent UTA 4-2 in game one, and 7-6 in game two.
 
"I am so proud of the fight the girls showed today," said Lyon. "Jessie Watts pitched a great game to get the win in game one and our offense really stepped up in game two."
 
Entering the fifth inning, the Warhawks trailed 1-0, but in came junior Sydney McKay with a single to center field that pushed in Megan Shaw and Ana Hogan.
 
Hogan and Shaw both reached on a walk earlier that inning and were advanced into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt by Jaclyn Kresta.
 
McKay would take advantage of a wild pitch off the glove of UTA's JoJo Valencia, just before, sophomore Jayden Mount would connect on a pitch and send it far over the center field wall- giving the Warhawks a 4-1 lead headed into the sixth inning.
 
The Mavericks made an attempt to cut away at the Hawks' lead in the seventh, with a solo home run; with no outs on the board, ULM's Jessie Watts stayed calm, held her defense together, and came out with the win and tied the series with UTA, one game apiece.
 
Watts pitched a complete seven innings, earned her fifth win of the season.
 
With the series tied, ULM wasted no time getting on the board in game two. After two innings, the Warhawks had already built a six-run 7-1 lead, but there was still much game to be played.
 
Once again, McKay stepped up and produced a solid at-bat, ending with a double to right field. Mount followed suit with a single down the left field line that advanced McKay to third base.
 
With teammates on first and third, senior Hunter Hogan efficiently executed a sacrifice fly to right field, giving McKay the opportunity to score ULM's first run.
 
Senior Cheyanne Lyon hit her third home run of the season before the inning would be over, scoring both herself and Mount on the hit.
 
Only one inning later, the Maverick's pitching staff would find itself in a situation, after four Warhawks were hit-by-pitch, two of which would come with the bases loaded and score Kresta and McKay.
 
After a UTA pitching change, the Warhawks continued to lay it on thick, with a sacrifice fly to center field by Lyon and an RBI single to the same spot by Ana Hogan. Mount and Hunter Hogan would score on the two hits respectively.
 
"Sydney, Cheyanne, and Jayden all had consistently successful performances at the plate, and it's those performances, when strung together, that allow us to win big conference games like these- and its these wins that help us win the conference series," said Lyon.
 
The Mavericks score two more in the third, followed by three additional runs in the sixth in an attempt to make a comeback, but the ULM defense put out UTA's batters in order in the top of the seventh to save the game.
 
ULM will have one more game in their nine-game home stretch on Tuesday (Apr.10) when they host Southeastern Louisiana after the non-conference game was postponed due to weather earlier this season. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.