ULM Warhawks

Monroe, La. - ULM returns to Warhawk Field on Wednesday evening to face off with Northwestern State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Setting the Scene

The Warhawks are in the middle of stretch in which they will play seven of eight games on the road. The Warhawks are coming off a 3-1 road trip with a loss at No. 5 Mississippi State before sweeping Georgia State over the weekend. ULM will travel to Appalachian State for a three-game series starting Friday in Boone, N.C.

ULM lost its mid-week game last Wednesday at No. 5 Mississippi State 21-8 before never trailing in the weekend series at Georgia State, winning 16-8 on Friday, 10-3 on Saturday and 9-3 on Sunday. The Warhawks have won five straight Sun Belt Conference games and seven of their last nine games overall.

Northwestern State has won six straight games coming into Wednesday's contest, picking up a sweep of Nicholls State over the weekend, winning 7-1, 9-7 and 3-2 over the Colonels. The Demons also won a pair of mid-week games from Mississippi Valley State last week, winning 11-0 and 9-0.

The Warhawks and Demons will meet for the 224th time on Wednesday, with NSU leading 113-110 after a 15-0 win on Feb. 26 in Natchitoches. It is the most-played rivalry for ULM, ahead of McNeese State (193 meetings) and Louisiana Tech (181 meetings).

ULM head coach Michael Federico is in his second season with the Warhawks. He led the team to an 11-win improvement in his first season, as the Warhawks posted a 23-31 record in 2018. He is 37-49 overall as the head coach at ULM.

NSU head coach Bobby Barbier is in his third season with the Demons. The NSU alumnus led the Demons to a Southland Conference tournament championship and NCAA Regional appearance in 2018. Prior to taking over as head coach, Barbier served as pitching coach for the Demons.

Leading Off

Junior utility player Andrew Beesley was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon. Beesley posted four multi-hit games on last week's four-game road trip, going 9-for-17 at the plate with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs, five runs scored, four walks and two stolen bases. Beesley tallied an on base percentage of .619 for the week and had an .882 slugging percentage. He is the first Warhawk to earn a weekly award from the Sun Belt Conference this season.

Trent Tingelstad ranks among the Sun Belt Conference's best hitters. Tingelstad is second in batting average at .374, while leading the SBC in on base percentage at .517 and is fifth in slugging percentage at .583. He is tied for fourth in hits at 43, tied for fourth in doubles with 10, tied for sixth in total bases with 67, tied for seventh in RBIs with 28 and runs scored with 31. Tingelstad is second in the league in walks with 30.

Chad Bell has continued his power surge, hitting four home runs over the past two weeks. Bell is now tied for third in the Sun Belt with seven home runs. Bell is tied for eighth in total bases with 66 on the season, and sits eighth in slugging percentage at .550.

Ryan Humeniuk and Andrew Beesley are among the top base stealers in the Sun Belt Conference. Humeniuk is tied for fourth in the SBC with 14 steals, while Beesley is sixth with 13 stolen bags.

The Warhawks picked up their first sweep of the season by knocking off Georgia State in three straight games in Atlanta. On Friday night, the Warhawks opened strong against Sun Belt Conference preseason Pitcher of the Year Hunter Gaddis, posting a 16-8 win. Andrew Beesley hit a 2-run home run in the first inning, and Trent Tingelstad hit a 2-run triple in the second inning, followed immediately by Chad Bell's 2-run home run for a 6-0 lead. In all, the Warhawks scored 10 runs off Gaddis in 4-plus innings. Tingelstad went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, two RBIs, four runs scored and two walks. Trey Jeans picked up his first win of the year, pitching 6 1/3 innings with three runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

In Saturday's second game of the series, ULM pulled away for a 10-3 win over Georgia State. The game was tied at 3 after five innings before Chad Bell gave the Warhawks the lead for good with a 2-RBI single in the sixth inning. Ty Barnes pitched five innings for the win, giving up three runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Jacob Barton worked the final four innings, picking up his second save with seven strikeouts.

The Warhawks finished the sweep of Georgia State with a 9-3 win on Sunday in Atlanta. Andrew Beesley hit a pair of RBI doubles, including one in the four-run fifth inning. Kolton Childress picked up the win in relief, pitching 2 2/3 innings with just one hit and five strikeouts.