Atlanta – Chad Bell hit the go-ahead 2-RBI single, Ty Barnes kept ULM in the game on the mound, and Jacob Barton and the Warhawk defense shut down Georgia State over the final four innings to pick up a 10-3 win Saturday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex.
With the win, the Warhawks (13-18 overall, 4-7 Sun Belt) will play with a chance at their first sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon, and clinched their first road series victory of the season.
ULM scored first for the second straight game. Joey Jordan hit a two-out 2-run double to left field in the second inning, and after a walk by Trent Tingelstad, Bell followed with an RBI single to put the Warhawks up 3-0.
Georgia State (9-22, 2-9) answered in the bottom of the third inning, doing all of their damage with two outs against Ty Barnes. After Daino Deas tripled, Griffin Cheney hit an RBI double. After Barnes issued a pair of walks to load the bases, Chase Frady knocked in two runs with a single to tie the game at 3.
Barnes settled down after the inning, facing just seven more batters to get through the next two innings and left with the game tied at 3 after five innings.
"I thought Ty Barnes started the game off well," said head coach Michael Federico. "Got a little comfortable there in the third inning. We got punched in the face right there. Ty was really upset. The next inning, he comes back and gives us a zero. He didn't want to come out of the game. When I told him 'I'm taking you out,' he wasn't too happy, but at the same time he's selfless. We got the win, that's all that matters."
Bell helped put Barnes in line for the win in the top of the sixth inning. Logan Wurm walked to lead off the inning, and after a sacrifice bunt by Barrett, Jordan walked and Tingelstad was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bell came through with a 2-RBI single to plate Wurm and Jordan for the 5-3 lead.
The Warhawks added two runs in the seventh. With Ryan Humeniuk on third base and Masen Prososki on second, a pitch from Georgia State's Ryan Watson went in the dirt and was blocked by catcher Dalton Davies out into the infield. Humeniuk tried to break for home and Prososki headed for third, but Watson fielded the ball and looked to throw out Humeniuk trying to get back to third base. Instead, Watson's throw sailed into foul territory and down the left field line, allowing both Humeniuk and Prososki to score to push the lead to 7-3.
After facing just seven batters through his first two innings of relief, Jacob Barton ran into trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning. Barton loaded the bases with one out on a hit batsman, single and a walk. Georgia State's Luke Leonard hit a deep fly ball to right field when Tingelstad leaped and made a catch against the wall for the second out of the inning. Georgia State argued the ball hit the wall before Tingelstad made the catch, and the baserunners advanced. ULM tagged GSU's Rhett Harper on second base, and he was ruled out for not tagging up at first base to retire the side.
"It was a big double play with the catch with Tingelstad out there," Federico said. "I thought it was a great job by our coaching staff, our dugout, to pay attention to the guy that did not tag up. I did not see it. Coach Collins was right next to me, and the whole dugout was yelling 'he didn't tag.' It was great for us to see that."
"I thought Jacob in that eighth inning got out of his legs a little bit," Federico said. "He's capable of throwing multiple innings, but I think he got distraught a little bit. They made him feel a little bit uncomfortable."
The Warhawks took the momentum from the controversial double play and added three more insurance runs in the ninth inning, with Jordan picking up an RBI on a groundout, Tingelstad picking up an infield RBI single, and Bell hitting a sacrifice fly.
Barnes picked up his third win of the season, pitching 5 innings with three runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Barton earned his second save, throwing the final 4 innings with no runs on two hits, one walk and a season-high seven strikeouts.
"I thought Logan Wurm was phenomenal today behind the plate and did a great job of handling those two guys," Federico said.
Jordan paced the ULM offense from the leadoff spot with two hits, including a double, three RBIs, three walks and two runs scored.
"That's what hurt us a little bit early in the year was the fact that Joey had the knee surgery and missed basically a month of the season," Federico said. "It's good to have him back. He's got a great eye at the plate. His dad is a college baseball coach. He's been around it. The way he talks and the way he communicates with the team, and he's a human rain delay. He calls time and he just understands how to work the umpires and knows his strike zone. He had some great at bats."
Bell added two hits and a career-best four RBIs, while Beesley had two hits and two walks and Humeniuk extended his hitting streak to seven games with a pair of hits.
The Warhawks and Panthers wrap up the series at noon Sunday at GSU Baseball Complex. Links to live audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
