ULM Warhawks

Boone, N.C. - ULM plays a second consecutive Sun Belt Conference series on the road this weekend at Appalachian State. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Setting the Scene

The Warhawks are wrapping up a stretch in which they will play seven of eight games on the road. The Warhawks went 3-1 on last week's road trip with a loss at No. 5 Mississippi State before sweeping Georgia State over the weekend. ULM knocked off Northwestern State 8-4 at Warhawk Field on Wednesday in the only home game in the stretch.

ULM has won five straight Sun Belt Conference games after opening 0-7 in conference play. ULM defeated Georgia Southern 4-2 and 8-5 before sweeping last weekend's series at Georgia State 16-8, 10-3 and 9-3. 

Appalachian State is coming off an 8-2 win at UNC Asheville on Wednesday to improve to 13-18 on the season. The Mountaineers had another midweek game with Western Carolina cancelled due to weather on Tuesday. The Mountaineers are 5-7 in Sun Belt play after dropping two out of three at home last week to Georgia Southern, winning 9-5 on Saturday against the Eagles.

The Warhawks and Mountaineers meet for the 10th time in Friday's series opener. Appalachian State leads the series 5-4 after taking two of three games in Monroe last year. The Mountaineers won 4-1 on Friday and Sunday, and ULM won 5-0 on Saturday.

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 38-49 overall as the head coach at ULM.

App State head coach Kermit Smith is in his third season with the Mountaineers. Smith spent 15 seasons as a head coach in NCAA Division II with Belmont Abbey and Lander, making three appearances in the Division II College World Series. Smith is the all-time winningest coach at both Belmont Abbey and Lander.

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 .383, while leading the SBC in on base percentage at .519 and is second in slugging percentage at .642. He is tied for third in hits at 46, tied for sixth in doubles with 10, tied for second in total bases with 77, tied for fifth in RBIs with 32 and tied for sixth in runs scored with 33. Tingelstad is second in the league in walks with 30. Tingelstad hit a pair of home runs on Wednesday against Northwestern State to give him five for the year.

Chad Bell has continued his power surge, hitting five home runs over the past two weeks. Bell is now tied for second in the Sun Belt with eight home runs. Bell is tied for seventh in total bases with 70 on the season, and sits eighth in slugging percentage at .560.

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

The Warhawks used three home runs to power past Northwestern State on Wednesday, 8-4. Chad Bell gave ULM the lead with a 2-run shot to left field in the third inning. Trent Tingelstad added to the lead with a solo homer to left in the seventh. After NSU cut the deficit to a run, Tingelstad hit a slicing two-out, 3-run homer to left in the eighth inning to seal the 8-4 win. Conner Deeds picked up the win, pitching three scoreless innings in relief.