ULM Warhawks

Conway, S.C. - The ULM Warhawks return to play at the Sun Belt Conference championship on Saturday, facing host Coastal Carolina in the semifinals. First pitch is set for 11:30 a.m. at Springs Brooks Stadium. An "if necessary" game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Setting the Scene

ULM has won its first three games in the SBC Championship for the first time since joining the conference before the 2007 season. It's the first time ULM has won its first three conference tournament games since 1995 in the Southland Conference Tournament. ULM defeated South Alabama 12-7 on Tuesday, won 8-0 over Texas State on Wednesday, and knocked off UT Arlington 18-5 on Thursday. The Warhawks are now 27-29 overall and finished 12-17 in the SBC, good for fifth place in the West Division.

Coastal Carolina is the fifth seed in the SBC Championship. The Chanticleers dropped their opener to UT Arlington 9-8 in 10 innings on Wednesday, beat Texas State 13-4 on Thursday, and avenged their loss to UTA on Friday, 14-13 in 10 innings. The Chanticleers need two wins over ULM to reach the tournament finals. CCU is 32-24-1 overall and finished 15-13 in the SBC.

Saturday's game is the 10th all-time meeting between the two schools, with Coastal posting a trio of weekend sweeps over the last three seasons to lead the series 9-0. Coastal swept ULM on the opening weekend of SBC play this season, winning 13-3, 14-2 and 15-7 from March 15th to 17th in Monroe.

Saturday's game marks the first-ever meeting between ULM and Coastal Carolina in the postseason.

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 50-60 overall as the head coach at ULM.

Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore is in his 24th season at Coastal Carolina and his 30th season overall as a head coach. Gilmore led his alma mater to the 2016 National Championship. He earned his 1,200th career win earlier this season. Gilmore is just the 27th NCAA coach to record 1,200 career wins.

Leading Off

Chad Bell continues to put a strong finish on his senior season. Bell had a 20-game hitting streak come to an end in Wednesday's win over Texas State, going 0-for-4 with a RBI and two strikeouts. He bounced back by going 3-for-4 with four RBIs on Thursday vs. UT Arlington, including his 19th home run of the season, tying Corey Taylor for the ULM single-season record set in 1998. Bell's 19 home runs also lead the Sun Belt Conference. Bell is also climbing the ULM single-season leaderboards in total bases with 150, sitting alone in second place, 16 behind Ben Soignier's 2009 season with 166 total bases. Bell is tied for eighth on the single-season RBI list with 56. In the Sun Belt, Bell ranks second in slugging percentage (.676) and total bases (150), tied for third in RBIs (56) and tied for eighth in hits (74). 

Andrew Beesley continues to hold steady for the ULM offense. Beesley is third on the Warhawks in batting average at .332. Beesley is tied for ninth in the SBC with 14 stolen bases.

Ryan Humeniuk continues to excel at getting on base. The junior had a 22-game reached base streak snapped in game two of a doubleheader vs. UT Arlington on May 3, but followed that game by reaching base in the next seven games. After failing to reach base safely on Tuesday, Humeniuk has reached base in 31 of the last 33 games. The stretch started on March 26 at Louisiana Tech. 

Trent Tingelstad sits in the top 10 of the SBC in several categories. Tingelstad is fifth in the Sun Belt with a .352 batting average, third in on base percentage at .472 and fifth in slugging percentage at .588. He is tied for third in doubles at 18, tied for the conference lead in triples with four and tied for second in walks with 42.

Two seniors, Joey Jordan and Braeden Barrett, saved three of their top performances for their first postseason games. Jordan has eight hits with four RBIs over the first three games of the tournament, while Barrett has seven hits and four RBIs.

Trey Jeans and Ty Barnes did their part to help save the bullpen for the weekend at the SBC Championship. Jeans pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings in the second round vs. top seed Texas State, while Barnes threw all seven innings in the third round victory against UT Arlington.