Starkville, Miss. - ULM opens a four-game road trip Wednesday night by visiting No. 5 Mississippi State. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field.
Setting The Scene
The Warhawks will play seven of the next eight games on the road, with a Sun Belt Conference series at Georgia State to follow on this road swing.
The Warhawks are coming off their most successful week of the season, going 4-1 last week. ULM snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 9-4 win at Louisiana Tech and then topped Jackson State 10-1 on Wednesday. The Warhawks bounced back from a 9-8 Friday night loss to Georgia Southern to win the final two games of the series 4-2 and 8-5 over the Eagles.
Mississippi State lost two out of three games over the weekend to LSU in Starkville. Mississippi State won the Thursday night affair 6-5 before dropping the Friday and Saturday games by 10-5 and 11-2 scores.
Wednesday's game marks the 34th all-time meeting between ULM and Mississippi State, with the Bulldogs having a 26-7 advantage in the series. The two teams last met in 2009, when ULM took a 7-1 win over the Bulldogs at Warhawk Field in Monroe. Mississippi State last won in the series 17-7 in Starkville in 2007.
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 34-48 overall as the head coach at ULM.
Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis is in his 1st season leading the Bulldogs, posting a 24-5 record. He previously coached four seasons at Indiana, leading the Hoosiers to a 141-91-2 record and three NCAA regional appearances, becoming the first head coach to lead Indiana to regional appearances in three of his first four seasons.
Leading Off
Through Sunday's games, ULM ranks 12th in the Sun Belt Conference as a team in batting average at .251. ULM has 225 hits, 36 doubles, five triples and 18 home runs with 150 runs scored. The Warhawks have also compiled 213 strikeouts to 126 walks. On the mound, ULM ranks 12th in the SBC in team ERA at 6.52. The Warhawks have given up 204 runs, 173 earned, on 263 hits with 232 strikeouts and 144 walks.
Trent Tingelstad ranks among the Sun Belt Conference's best hitters. Tingelstad is fifth in batting average at .374, while leading in on base percentage at .512. He is tied for sixth in hits at 37, tied for fifth in doubles with nine and is tied for ninth in total bases with 55. Tingelstad is second in the league in walks with 25.
Chad Bell experienced a power surge last week, hitting three home runs on the week. Bell doubled his home run total on the season in the week, giving him six blasts on the season, good for a tie for second place in the Sun Belt Conference. Bell also ranks seventh in the SBC in total bases with 57.
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 12 steals, while Beesley is tied for sixth with 11 stolen bags.
The Warhawks dropped Friday's series opener to Georgia Southern 9-8. The Warhawks trailed 9-1 after the Eagles scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning. However, the Warhawks rallied to close within a run thanks to a 2-RBI triple by
Trent Tingelstad, a 2-run home run by
Chad Bell, and a solo homer by
Ryan Humeniuk. ULM had the potential tying and winning runs on base when the final out was recorded.
ULM bounced back Saturday with a 4-2 win over Georgia Southern to even up the weekend series. Georgia Southern led 1-0 early, but a solo home run by
Blake Buckman and a 2-run shot by
Ryan Humeniuk gave ULM a 3-1 lead.
Ty Barnes gave up one run on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks to pick up his first win as a starting pitcher and second of the season.
Jacob Barton gave up a single unearned run over the final four innings to pick up his first save of the season after serving as a starter over the first six weekends of the season.
ULM completed its first Sun Belt series win of the season on Sunday with an 8-5 win over Georgia Southern. The Warhawks scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie.
Andrew Beesley and
Blake Buckman drove in two runs each in the win, with each driving in a run during the four-run eighth inning.
