Monroe, La. - It took until the bottom of the sixth inning, but once the ULM offense started rolling, it was hard to stop Tuesday night at Warhawk Field.
The Warhawks scored four runs in the sixth inning to take the lead, and then added five more in the eighth to pull away from Alcorn State 11-4.
"I'll take an ugly win right now," said head coach Michael Federico. "We've been on the other side of some things before, too. Proud of our resiliency, fighting through and scratching and clawing but we got to the bullpen and then the innings that we try to concentrate on, we were able to expand it."
ULM (20-24 overall) started slow as Alcorn (13-27) claimed the early lead. The Braves took the early lead in the second inning. Brandon Barna doubled and advanced to third when Brendly Martina reached on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt. Jamey Fabre followed with an RBI single to right field, and Andrew Meadows grounded out with an RBI to give the Braves the 2-0 lead.
ULM tied the game in the bottom of the second as Masen Prososki's RBI single scored Ryan Humeniuk, and Braedon Barrett brought home Blake Buckman on an RBI double.
Alcorn regained the lead in the third inning. A lead off walk and a single set the table, and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Kirt Cormier connected for a 2-RBI double to put the Braves up 4-2 through three innings.
"We were definitely in a funk," Federico said. "First play of the game, a routine ground ball, we boot it. Those are things we can't do, whether you're playing Alcorn or (UT Arlington) this weekend."
From that point on, ULM pitching settled down. Starter Cole Martin lasted 2 1/3 innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Four bullpen pitchers, Miles Dunn, Conner Deeds, Richard Hebert and Landon Longsworth, combined to allow just two hits while walking four batters over the final 6 2/3 innings.
"We were able to fight through some things," Federico said. "I was proud that we kept it at 2-0 and had it at 4-2. We were comfortable in the dugout knowing going into that latter part of the game that we had a chance, especially when we got into the bullpen. Then I thought our bullpen did an exceptional job with Dunn, Deeds, Hebert and Longsworth. They did their job."
Once the Warhawks hit the Brave bullpen, the offense cranked up. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Trent Tingelstad came through with a lead off triple down the right field line. Chad Bell followed with a walk, and Andrew Beesley brought Tingelstad home with a sacrifice fly. Ryan Humeniuk tied the game with an RBI triple to left center, scoring Bell to tie the game at 4. Logan Wurm's RBI groundout put the Warhawks in front for the first time at 5-4. Masen Prososki then reached first on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error. After stealing third, Prososki scored when Buckman reached on an error to put ULM up 6-4 through six innings.
"Our hitters and Coach Collins and those guys have done a good job of watching video and kind of having a little better idea about some people," Federico said. "We didn't have much (on Alcorn). I think it was more or less they got us in between pitches. I thought our offense popped some balls up. We didn't square some balls up early."
The Warhawks added five insurance runs in the eighth inning, with Cameron Horton connecting for an RBI double, Cade Harper picked up a 2-RBI double, and Chad Bell crushed a 2-run home run to right field, just sneaking inside the foul pole, for the 11-4 lead. It was Bell's team-leading 12th homer of the season, and it pushed his season-high hitting streak to 10 games.
"I was just looking for a good pitch to hit," Bell said. "Got ahead in the count and saw a fastball out of the hand and put another good swing on it. Definitely did not think that was going to stay fair. Glad the wind was blowing a little bit for sure. Running down the line, I was hoping it would stay fair, and thankfully it did."
Tingelstad hit a double and a triple for the Warhawks, while Prososki had a pair of hits and an RBI. Humeniuk had a walk to go along with his triple, pushing his on-base streak to 21 games.
"I feel pretty good tonight, just getting back from the injury and everything," Tingelstad said. "I'm just glad to be able to play and being able to be in the lineup is just always the best feeling. I was just trying to not do too much. Pitching wasn't the best, so I was trying to stay back and do my job. I felt good running the bases, so I just kept going."
Deeds (2-1) picked up the win in relief, giving up just two walks with three strikeouts over two innings.
The Warhawks finish the season with a 4-0 record against Southwestern Athletic Conference opponents, going 2-0 against Southern and also picked up wins over Jackson State and Alcorn State.
ULM continues the home stand this weekend, hosting UT Arlington for a Sun Belt Conference series at Warhawk Field. Game times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, call 318-342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
