Atlanta – For the third straight game, ULM jumped on top early and rode a strong effort on the mound as the Warhawks completed the weekend 3-game sweep of Georgia State with a 9-3 win on Sunday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex.
The Warhawks (14-18 overall, 5-7 Sun Belt) have won five straight Sun Belt Conference games and seven of their last nine games overall.
"We've got guys that are stepping into their roles," said head coach Michael Federico. "Even Blake Buckman, who's doing a good job, Miranda and Gordon who are kind of going in and out with some things. We have to have guys understand it takes the entire team to win games."
The Warhawks jumped out to an early lead again on Sunday. Blake Buckman led off the top of the second inning with a double. After Humeniuk's bunt single moved Buckman to third base, a safety squeeze sacrifice bunt by Masen Prososki scored Buckman for the 1-0 lead.
ULM added to the lead in the third inning. Joey Jordan singled and Trent Tingelstad walked to open the inning. Andrew Beesley hit a double down the left field line, scoring Jordan and doubling the lead to 2-0. Buckman hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Tingelstad for the 3-0 advantage.
After Georgia State scored a run in the bottom of the fourth, ULM answered with a four-run top of the fifth inning. Jordan and Tingelstad opened the inning with singles, and Beesley connected for another RBI double, this time down the right field line, to push the lead to 4-1. Tingelstad scored on a walk by Ryan Humeniuk, and Beesley and Buckman each scored on wild pitches to push the lead to 7-1.
GSU tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the fifth. After an error put Luke Leonard on base, Ryan Glass followed with a two-run home run to left to bring the Panthers back within four at 7-3. Starting pitcher Kayleb Sanderson then allowed a walk to Dalton Davies and a walk to Daino Deas, forcing Federico to go to the bullpen. Kolton Childress entered the game, striking out Griffin Cheney and forcing Brandon Bell to ground into a fielder's choice to thwart GSU's last true threat of the game.
Sanderson took a no-decision in the start, throwing 4 1/3 innings with three runs, two earned, on four hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Childress picked up his second win of the season out of the bullpen, tossing 2 2/3 innings with no runs, one hit, no walks and five strikeouts. Cole Gray pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless and hitless ball, while Landon Longsworth recorded the final out of the game.
"I thought Sanderson was locating very well," Federico said. "He was dumping that breaking ball in there. We don't make a play in the fifth inning defensively and then give up a two-run home run, which was disappointing. At the same time, he grinded through some things and hung some zeroes early that we needed. Childress did a great job. We limited our walks, only had three walks on the day. When you can do that and play pretty clean defensively for the most part, you've got a chance to win the baseball game."
The Warhawks added an insurance run in the seventh and eighth innings for the final margin.
Beesley finished 2-for-4 at the plate with two doubles , two RBIs a walk and a run scored.
"He's been good for us in RBI situations," Federico said. "I think what he brings to the table is he can go to both lines. He's not just a pull guy. He's got a bunch of hits to the back side of the field. He kind of takes what the pitcher gives him a little bit. He didn't try to do too much, especially the ball down the left field line. He just kind of caught it deep and sliced that thing down there for a double. Definitely needed that, especially the RBI."
Jordan capped an outstanding road trip with his fourth straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Trey Horton took the loss for Georgia State, giving up six runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
The Warhawks return home for a mid-week game with Northwestern State on Tuesday. First pitch is at 6 p.m. For tickets, call (318) 342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com. Links to live video and audio are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
