ULM Warhawks

Jonesboro, Ark. - The ULM Warhawks visit Arkansas State for a pivotal three-game Sun Belt Conference series this weekend. The Red Wolves are in a three-way tie for eighth place in the Sun Belt Conference standings along with the Ragin' Cajuns and South Alabama, while ULM sits a game-and-a-half back of the trio in 11th place. The top 10 teams in the SBC standings, regardless of division, qualify for the conference tournament in Conway, South Carolina. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Tomlinson Stadium.

Setting The Scene

The Warhawks are coming off a 5-4 win at Southern on Tuesday night, but have lost four of their last five SBC games after dropping both games at Appalachian State two weeks ago, and falling in two of three games to Little Rock last week.

Arkansas State had its midweek game at Southern Illinois canceled due to weather on Tuesday. The Red Wolves were swept at Texas State last weekend and have lost eight straight SBC games coming into Friday night.

Friday's game is the 72nd all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Red Wolves. Arkansas State leads the series 40-31. Last season in Monroe, ULM won the Friday night game 2-0 before dropping Saturday's contest 31-7. The Warhawks then took Sunday's rubber match 4-0. Arkansas State has won eight of the last nine games played between the two in Jonesboro, with ULM last winning a road series between the two in 2012, taking the final two games of the series.

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 40-54 overall as the head coach at ULM.

Arkansas State head coach Tommy Raffo is in his 11th season with the Red Wolves. He picked up his 300th career win with an 8-4 victory over Southeast Missouri State on April 16. Prior to Arkansas State, Raffo served as an assistant coach at Mississippi State from 1994 to 2008.

Leading Off

Trent Tingelstad ranks among the Sun Belt Conference's best hitters. Tingelstad is fifth in batting average at .352, while sitting third in the SBC in on base percentage at .481 and is fifth in slugging percentage at .585. He is tied for 6th in doubles with 12 and ninth in total bases with 83. Tingelstad is tied for third in the league in walks with 32. Tingelstad missed last week's midweek vs. Louisiana Tech after injuring his leg vs. Appalachian State, and returned to the lineup as the designated hitter on Friday night vs. Little Rock. He returned to right field on Saturday in the doubleheader against the Trojans.

Chad Bell continues to display power. After hitting a pair of doubles on Friday night against Little Rock, Bell hit two more in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with the Trojans. He then connected for a solo home run in the eighth inning of the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. Bell is now tied for sixth in the Sun Belt Conference with 12 doubles, is tied for fifth with nine home runs, and is sixth in the league in slugging percentage at .578. He is also fourth in the conference with 89 total bases 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 15 steals, while Beesley is sixth with 14 stolen bags. Beesley has moved into the top 10 in the SBC in batting average, sitting seventh at .349, while Humeniuk is tied for ninth in the league in runs scored with 37.

In Tuesday's 5-4 win over Southern in Baton Rouge, ULM erased an early 3-0 deficit to pick up the win. The Jaguars led 3-0 going to the top of the fourth inning, when Joey Jordan's sacrifice fly scored Cameron Horton and Masen Prososki's RBI single to right plated Ryan Humeniuk to bring the Warharwks within a run. In the top of the seventh inning, Trent Tingelstad hit a double, and pinch runner Jake Kaufman eventually scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3. In the eighth inning, the Warhawks took the lead on Logan Wurm's RBI single, with Wurm scoring on Andrew Beesley's RBI fielder's choice. It was the first time this season ULM won a game when trailing at the end of six innings (1-21).