Atlanta – Andrew Beesley hit a 2-run home run in the top of the first inning, and ULM added four more runs in the second inning to jump on top of Georgia State early to take a 16-8 victory in the opening game of the series Friday night at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Beesley's blast set the tone for the night, as Trent Tingelstad added a 2-RBI triple and Chad Bell followed with a 2-run home run in the second inning to open a 6-0 lead against Georgia State and Sun Belt Conference preseason Pitcher of the Year Hunter Gaddis.
"I thought Coach Collins had our guys prepared," Coach Michael Federico said. "I thought, basically, it started from Joey Jordan's first swing, kind of sitting on that fastball a little bit, knowing it's an elite fastball. There was probably 20 scouts in the stands to see him. Joey hits a long fly ball foul. It was kind of like, ok, it's on. He comes back to the dugout and was like 'you can really see it well.' That at bat for him carried over to a bunch of the other guys."
Georgia State battled back in the bottom of the second inning, using two walks and a hit batsman to set up an RBI double for Luke Leonard, sacrifice fly by Ryan Glass and an RBI single by Daino Deas to cut the deficit in half to 6-3.
Gaddis appeared to settle in at that point. After Bell's homer, Gaddis struck out the next six Warhawks he faced.
ULM pushed back and finally knocked out the ace in the fifth inning. Tingelstad singled off of Gaddis' leg, as the ball caromed into foul territory on the third base line. Bell singled and then Beesley picked up a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. Blake Buckman battled back from down no balls and two strikes to pick up a walk and an RBI to push the lead to 7-3. After a first pitch ball was thrown to Ryan Humeniuk, Gaddis was lifted from the game. Bell scored on a wild pitch, and Humeniuk collected an RBI single. Masen Prososki followed with a sacrifice bunt and Logan Wurm capped the five-run inning with an RBI single to lead 11-3. Gaddis finished throwing 4-plus innings, giving up 10 runs on nine hits with two walks and nine strikeouts.
"I was telling our guys in the dugout, second or third inning, 'hey, we got a chance to get him out,'" Federico said. "'This will help us for the later days.' He comes up and just mows us down in the third and fourth inning. I was telling our pitchers, that's what a Friday night guy does. Then we got to him again there in the fifth and knocked him out of there, which was great for us. Proud of our guys with what we did."
The Warhawks continued to pour it on. Joey Jordan doubled to open the sixth inning, and Tingelstad followed with a walk. Bell brought Jordan home on an RBI groundout, while an error allowed Tingelstad to score to push the lead to 13-3.
Down the stretch, Braedon Barrett added two RBIs while Logan Wurm picked up his second RBI of the day. Georgia State scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but ULM still led 16-8 after the inning.
Five Warhawks had multi-hit games. Tingelstad finished 3-for-4 with a double, triple, two RBIs, two walks and four runs scored.
"It's nice to have Chad Bell behind you," Federico said. "They've got to decide who they're going to throw to. He's got a short, compact swing. He hits the ball with power to all fields. He and Bell both do. That's fun to see."
Beesley was 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, three runs and a walk. Wurm also went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Bell and Jordan added two hits each, with Bell driving in two runs.
Trey Jeans picked up his first win of the season, matching a season-best 6 1/3 innings with four runs on four hits, two walks and three strikeouts.
"Trey's kind of one of those guys that's effectively wild," Federico said. "You hate to say that, but that's what he is. Even the first inning he got a couple 3-1 counts that he got them to pop up or just get some weak contact. They probably weren't strikes if you went back and watched the film. We started scoring those runs, and I was challenging him in the dugout. That's the most pitches I've allowed a pitcher to throw in my two years being here. It was a great outing for him, a Friday night outing that you need to have. At one point, I didn't think he was going to get out of the third. But, he was able to scratch and claw and Barrett made some really good plays out there in the outfield for us as well."
The Warhawks and Panthers continue the series on Saturday with first pitch at 1 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex. Links to live audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
