Conway, S.C. – ULM answered a five-run inning by South Alabama with a six-run inning of their own to retake the lead, and then held off the Jaguars down the stretch to take the win-or-go-home opening round game 12-7 at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Springs Brooks Stadium.
The 10th seeded Warhawks now advance to double-elimination play starting Wednesday against top-seed and SBC regular season champion Texas State. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. Central at Springs Brooks Stadium. Texas State swept the three-game series from ULM in San Marcos this season.
"Our guys have been great all year with their backs against the wall," assistant coach Matt Collins said. "I can't be more proud of them. They stuck with the plan. They never gave up and they kept grinding out at bats and getting to the next pitch. When we got our pitch, we didn't miss."
ULM (25-29) claimed the early lead against seventh-seed USA (30-26). Andrew Beesley connected for an RBI single to bring home Trent Tingelstad, putting ULM up 1-0 in the top of the first inning.
The Warhawks doubled the lead in the third inning with Beesley's infield single with the bases loaded, scoring Braedon Barrett for the 2-0 advantage.
USA opened its scoring in the fourth inning when a throwing error by Joey Jordan allowed Dakota Dailey to score, cutting the ULM lead to 2-1.
ULM answered in the top of the fifth inning as Jordan led off with a single and scored all the way from first base on Tingelstad's double to the right field corner for a 3-1 advantage.
The Jaguars unleashed a big inning in the bottom of the fifth. USA's first five batters picked up hits and came around to score in the frame, as the Jags sent 10 men to the plate to take a 6-3 lead.
ULM responded in a big way in the top of the sixth inning. The Warhawks pushed across six runs in the inning. Braedon Barrett came through with a two-RBI single to right. Barrett later scored on a wild pitch. Chad Bell's RBI single scored Joey Jordan, and Cameron Horton and Masen Prososki picked up an RBI each on a pair of bases-loaded walks to regain the 9-6 advantage.
ULM had one final big inning in the eighth. Working against First Team All-Sun Belt relief pitcher Zach Greene, Logan Wurm unloaded a two-RBI single to right field, scoring Beesley and Prososki. Two batters later, Joey Jordan came through with his career-best fifth hit of the day, bringing home Wurm for a 12-7 lead.
Jordan had hits in each of his final five at bats after entering the game with no more than three hits in a game in his career. He also scored twice. Barrett had a season-high three hits while driving in two runs and scoring twice. Bell's sixth inning RBI single extended his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games.
Miles Dunn picked up his fourth win of the season in relief on the mound, pitching one inning, giving up a run on three hits. Conner Deeds threw the final four innings for the save, giving up a run on four hits. Cole Martin took the no-decision in the start, lasting four-plus innings, giving up five runs, four earned, on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
"It's always great for the program whenever you see it succeed," Collins said. "Every time somebody gets a hit with runners in scoring position, with two outs, they answered the bell. That's what we did today. We answered the bell offensively. I thought Cole Martin gave us a great start early. I know he kind of ran into a little bit of traffic and Conner Deeds kept it at bay. It was a great team win."
SBC Player and Freshman of the Year Ethan Wilson had two singles with a run scored and a strikeout for USA. Michael Sandel and Dakota Dailey each had three hits with an RBI for the Jaguars.
Links to live video, audio and stats of Wednesday's game against Texas State are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
