Ruston, La. - Blake Buckman belted a three-run home run to tie the game, and the Warhawks took advantage of Louisiana Tech mistakes to mount a five-run eighth inning to take the lead, as ULM rallied past the I-20 rival Bulldogs for a 9-4 win at J.C. Love field at Pat Patterson Park on Tuesday.
The victory ended several losing streaks for ULM. The victory ended a seven-game slide overall, marked the first road win of the season in nine tries, and was also the Warhawks' first victory over Louisiana Tech since 2007.
After picking up the victory, head coach Michael Federico said the message was simple.
"We're in a an uphill battle," Federico said. "Every day, we know what we're up against. On that climb of that mountain that we're trying to get to, we have to stop and just enjoy the view sometimes. Whether it's a good win, a bad loss, whatever it is, we have to appreciate those things. I told them before the game, too, there's not that many Division I programs out there. You have to appreciate where we are. You're one of the few people that get a chance to play at the Division I level, play in a big rivalry game here at Louisiana Tech. They showed up and did everything that we asked, and they continue to buy in to what we're asking. Little by little, even through the losses, we keep asking them to do little things, and they did it tonight."
Tech built an early 3-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Taylor Young and an RBI single from Mason Mallard plated Tanner Huddleston and Phil Matulia respectively for a 2-0 lead in the third inning. An RBI single by Steele Netterville scored Chris Clayton for the 3-0 advantage in the fourth inning.
In the sixth inning, ULM had Andrew Beesley on third and Ryan Humeniuk on first when Blake Buckman blasted a three-run homer to left to tie the game at three. Buckman also had a double and a walk on his day.
"He blitzed on that ball and gave us tremendous energy in there," Federico said. "I think he's one guy who understands his role a little bit. He's there every day, grinds things out. He's bought into what Coach (Matt) Collins talks about. He's got at-bats under his belt. He kind of understands his role, he accepts that. He's a happy-go-lucky kid. He's a great kid, great student, he's what you want out of a student-athlete. He's fun to coach."
Louisiana Tech regained the lead in the seventh when Taylor poked an RBI single to right, scoring Huddleston.
However, the Bulldogs broke down in the top of the eighth inning. The Bulldogs walked two batters and committed two errors in the inning, as Joey Jordan picked up a 2-RBI single and Trent Tinglestad had an RBI double off the wall in center in the five-run frame to take an 8-4 lead. Masen Prososki chipped in an RBI single to score Humeniuk in the ninth for the final margin.
"Kind of a role reversal right there with the number of walks they had," Federico said. "We limited our stuff, had some damage control innings there a little bit by Cole Martin early on. A couple seniors just stepping up in some big moments and getting us back in the game. I don't think we panicked at all. Tonight, I thought it showed a little bit of leadership of some certain people that are tired of losing. We want to try to find a way to win games instead of trying to find a way to lose them."
Cole Gray earned his first win of the season, tossing the final 2 2/3 innings with no runs on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
"He's a guy that has bought in to what we're doing," Federico said. "He believes in it. He overcame a couple tough pitches that he didn't get called for some strikes. But he executed everytime we asked him to. He executed some pitches and we made some nice plays behind him."
The Warhawks open a four-game home stand on Wednesday night when they host Jackson State with first pitch at 6 p.m. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
