San Marcos, Texas – A desperate rally with two outs in the top of the ninth inning fell short for ULM on Saturday, dropping the second game of the weekend series to Texas State 6-5 at Bobcat Park.
ULM (7-15 overall, 0-5 Sun Belt Conference) entered the inning trailing 6-2 and had the bases empty with two outs before starting the rally. The Warhawks were down to their final strike five different times before Texas State (14-9, 3-2) secured the final out to end the game with the potential tying run on second base.
Trent Tingelstad opened the rally with a walk on a full count. Chad Bell followed with a single on a 2-2 pitch to put runners on second and third. Andrew Beesley followed with a single of his own to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Brendan Jordan then took a 3-2 pitch and dropped into left-center field, plating Tingelstad and Bell. Prososki used a 2-2 pitch to single through the left side to drive home Beesley to cut the deficit to one before Braedon Barrett struck out to end the game.
"Tip your cap to our guys," head coach Michael Federico said. "They got another pitcher in the game, make (Texas State closer Ryan) Theriot throw 14 pitches. That's a positive for Sunday."
ULM missed opportunities early in the game, loading the bases with one out in the top of the first inning, but did not score. The Warhawks put runners on first and third with nobody out in the third inning when Bell grounded into a double play, scoring Ryan Humeniuk for a 1-0 lead. ULM would strand two runners on base in the fifth inning and score just one run in a bases loaded and one out situation in the sixth inning.
"We've got to be able to capitalize on some things earlier," Federico said. "We scored some runs, could have had some bigger innings. We're shooting ourselves in the foot."
The Warhawks picked up another solid start in their re-worked pitching rotation. Ty Barnes made his first career start at ULM, pitching into the sixth inning while giving up three runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout, but suffered the loss. Barnes gave up a two-run home run to Jaylen Hubbard in the fourth inning and a solo blast to Felipe Rodriguez in the fifth inning.
"He mislocated two pitches and Texas State, they deposited both of them," Federico said. "That was frustrating to have to be that perfect. He missed two pitches and they hit two balls out of the ballpark. You love Ty's competitiveness. The defense really enjoyed playing behind him. He fills up the strike zone, got a bunch of fly ball outs. He gave us a chance. He leaves and we're down 3-2. We're in the ballgame."
Texas State added two runs in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Travon Benton and an RBI double by Dalton Shuffield. Skyler Valentine added a solo home run in the eighth.
Bell and Prososki had two hits each for the Warhawks, with Bell picking up a double for ULM's only extra-base hit.
The Warhawks and Bobcats wrap up the series on Sunday at Bobcat Park with first pitch at 1 p.m. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
