ULM Warhawks

Monroe, La. - The ULM Warhawks continue their push to qualify for the Sun Belt Conference tournament this weekend as they host UT Arlington for a three-game series at Warhawk Field. Game times are set for 2 and 5:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Setting the Scene

The Warhawks have won four of their last five games. The run started with the Warhawks picking up a 5-4 midweek win over Southern April 23. ULM then won two out of three games over the weekend at Arkansas State, rallying for an 11-4 win on Friday, dropping a 4-3 game in 12 innings on Saturday to the Red Wolves before bouncing back to win the series with a 4-2 victory on Sunday in Jonesboro. The Warhawks then scored the final nine runs of the game to beat Alcorn State on Tuesday, 11-4. ULM is now 20-24 overall and 8-12 in the Sun Belt.

UT Arlington has dropped five straight games coming into the weekend series. The Mavericks lost 10-5 at No. 6 Texas A&M on April 23. UTA was then swept at Appalachian State last weekend before falling at home to Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, 7-1.

Friday's game marks the 83rd all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Mavericks, with UTA leading the series 50-32. Last season, UTA picked up a 5-2 win on Thursday night and a 5-0 win on Friday before ULM salvaged a game from the series on Saturday, winning 2-0. UTA swept the previous series in Monroe in 2017. ULM last won a series from UTA in 2016, winning two of three games in Arlington.

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 43-55 overall as the head coach at ULM.

UTA head coach Darin Thomas is in his 11th season with the Mavericks. Thomas is 346-333 at UTA, leading the Mavericks to the NCAA Tournament in 2012 by winning the Southland Conference tournament. The Mavericks won a share of the 2013 Western Athletic Conference title.

Leading Off

The Warhawks picked up their second straight midweek win on Tuesday by rallying past Alcorn State 11-4 at Warhawk Field. The ULM offense started rolling in the sixth inning. Trent Tingelstad and Ryan Humeniuk each hit a triple in the inning, while the Warhawks also took advantage of a walk and an error to score four runs in the inning and claim a 6-4 lead. ULM added separation in the eighth inning as Cameron Horton hit an RBI double, Cade Harper connected for a 2-RBI double and Chad Bell belted a 2-run home run down the right field line. Four Warhawk relievers combined to throw 6 2/3 shutout innings, giving up just two hits.

Andrew Beesley picked up 10 hits last week, including nine in the series against Arkansas State. He now leads the Warhawks in batting average at .361 on the season, ranking second in the Sun Belt Conference behind Appalachian State's Luke Drumheller (.379). Beesley is tied for second in the SBC in hits with 61 (Steven Curry, Georgia Southern) and is sixth in stolen bases with 14.

Chad Bell continues his power surge by hitting a home run in three of the last four games. Bell crushed a two-run homer that barely stayed fair down the right field line against Alcorn State on Tuesday. Bell now has 12 home runs on the season to tie for the lead in the Sun Belt with Ethan Wilson of South Alabama. He is second in the SBC in total bases with 103 and fifth in slugging percentage at .599.

With a double and triple against Alcorn State, Trent Tingelstad has re-emerged in the Sun Belt statistical leaderboards. Tingelstad is seventh in batting average at .347, third in on base percentage at .474, sixth in slugging percentage at .587, tied for sixth in doubles with 13, and is tied for the league lead in triples with four. He is also tied for fourth in the SBC with 33 walks.

Trey Jeans has moved into the top 10 in the SBC in ERA. Jeans is ninth in the conference with a 3.61 ERA after giving up just one earned run over seven innings at Arkansas State on Friday. Jeans has given up three earned runs over his last three starts, dropping his ERA by 1.34.