ULM Warhawks

Monroe, La. - For the first, and only, time in the month of April, ULM will host a Sun Belt Conference series as Little Rock comes to Warhawk Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Setting the Scene

The Warhawks have dropped three straight games following a four-game winning streak. ULM lost both of its games at Appalachian State over the weekend, falling 3-2 and 10-8. The Warhawks then lost Tuesday's midweek game against I-20 rival Louisiana Tech 5-0 at Warhawk Field. ULM sits in 10th place overall in the Sun Belt Conference, one-half game ahead of South Alabama entering play this weekend.

Little Rock is one of the hottest teams in the SBC, putting together four straight wins and have won 10 of their last 11 games overall. The Trojan hot streak began with a sweep of Georgia State to end March, and has continued into April with a midweek win over Arkansas, winning two out of three with UT Arlington, another midweek win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a pair of wins this past weekend over Coastal Carolina, 8-5 and 14-0, and Tuesday's victory against Central Arkansas, 4-2.

Thursday's game marks the 81st all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Trojans. ULM leads the all-time series 47-33. Little Rock swept last season's series 7-4, 3-2 and 6-5 in Little Rock. The last time in Monroe, ULM won the series 2-1, with 6-4 and 7-1 wins, while Little Rock took the opening game of the series in 2017, 5-1. The two teams first met back in 1978.

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 38-52 overall as the head coach at ULM.

Little Rock head coach Chris Curry is in his fifth season with the Trojans. Curry has posted a record of 108-142 at Little Rock. Prior to Little Rock, Curry was the top assistant and pitching coach at Northwestern State, and also worked on staffs at Arkansas, Arkansas Tech, Hendrix and Meridian Community College.

Leading Off

Trent Tingelstad ranks among the Sun Belt Conference's best hitters. Tingelstad is second in batting average at .378, while leading the SBC in on base percentage at .509 and is fourth in slugging percentage at .630. He is tied for sixth in doubles with 11, fifth in total bases with 80 and seventh in RBIs with 33. Tingelstad is tied for second in the league in walks with 30. Tinglestad hit an RBI double in the third inning at Appalachian State at Saturday before leaving the game with an injury. He returned to pinch hit in the ninth inning of Tuesday's game against Louisiana Tech.

Chad Bell has continued his power surge, hitting five home runs over the past three weeks. Bell is now tied for fourth in the Sun Belt with eight home runs. Bell is 10th in total bases with 75 on the season.

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.

In Tuesday night's 5-0 loss to Louisiana Tech, the Warhawks wasted a strong starting pitching performance from Cole Martin. Martin threw a career-high 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The Warhawks missed early opportunities to get on the board. ULM loaded the bases in the first inning, but was unable to take the lead. In the third inning, the Warhawks put runners at first and third base with one out, but Ryan Humeniuk grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Halfway through SBC play, ULM ranks 10th in the conference with a .258 batting average. The Warhawks rank fifth in the league in walks with 173 on the season. Defensively, ULM ranks last in the conference with a 6.49 ERA. ULM leads the league in runners picked off with 10.