LAKE CHARLES, La. – The ULM baseball team jumped on top in the first inning and never trailed, using a five-run fifth inning to pull away in an 8-2 victory against McNeese State Friday night at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Ty Barnes delivered six innings on the mound to pick up his third win of the season, while Conner Deeds tossed the final three frames for his second save, as the Cowboys were limited to single runs in the third and fourth innings.
ULM set the tone in the top of the first inning. Mason Holt tripled off the top of the left field wall, and Andrew Beesley brought him home with an RBI double into the right field corner for the early 1-0 lead. ULM loaded the bases later in the inning, but McNeese starting pitcher Will Dion did not allow another run. However, Dion needed 40 pitches to navigate the first inning.
"It was outstanding," ULM baseball coach Michael Federico said of the first inning. "That guy is good. 10 (strikeouts) in four innings. We made him work. We made him have to lather himself up in that first inning. We only scored one, so you know what kind of pitcher he is. That's a Friday night guy. He's been in some big moments. That was huge for his ball club to only have one, but at the same time, we got the pitch count up and we were able to knock him out of the game earlier than what I was expecting. I'm excited for our offense to be able to do that. We had a good game plan going into it."
Danny DeSimone doubled the Warhawk lead in the third inning, hitting a solo home run to left field, his fifth blast of the season.
McNeese struck in the third inning, as Payton Harden scored on a delayed steal with two outs to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
ULM answered in the top of the fourth inning. Beesley hit another RBI double, this time to the left field corner, driving Wiley Cleland all the way around from first base to score and push the lead back to two at 3-1.
"The first at bat I got a fastball and was able to get the bat out in front a little bit and get it in the corner for a double," Beesley said. "I knew he didn't want to come with a fastball later, and we had a runner on base. He was going to try to get ahead with the breaking ball, and I was lucky enough to get one and get a good barrel on it and find a gap."
For Beesley, he now has a career-long eight-game hitting streak, going 16-for-32 in that stretch, after opening the season 1-for-12.
"I've just been getting more pitches to hit lately," Beesley said. "I credit that to my offense, because they can't pitch around me. I've got Danny DeSimone, whose hit five home runs, behind me. If you're going to pitch around one of us, you're going to get in trouble somewhere. I'm just fortunate to get some pitches to hit now, and I'm not missing them."
"The biggest thing is there's people behind him," Federico said. "There's people in front of him that are doing some things. At first, he was the circled one and was getting pitched a little more difficult. He's got Danny behind him and Holt hitting in front of him. Scouting reports are starting to get out there. They're watching film just like we are, and you've got to pick your poison with it."
The Cowboys responded in the home half of the fourth inning, as Clayton Rasbeary hit his fourth home run of the year, a leadoff shot to right field, to bring the Cowboys back within a run at 3-2.
ULM struck for the big inning in the fifth. After chasing Dion following four innings, the McNeese bullpen struggled to throw strikes. The first seven Warhawks reached base in the inning, thanks to five walks, a hit batsman and a single. Schulz hit an RBI single in the big five-run fifth inning, but it was the only hit for the Warhawks in the frame, as the lead expanded to 8-2.
Barnes settled in after the Warhawks expanded the lead, needing just five pitches to navigate the fifth inning, and worked around back-to-back singles in the sixth inning to keep McNeese off the scoreboard. Barnes tossed six innings, giving up two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
"The first time throwing off a turf mound is definitely different," Barnes said. "It's more of a steep mound than what back at home would be. I had to adjust to that. The first couple of innings were good, but then I came to a little speed bump and had to fight through it. Keep filling the zone up, and, like I always say, let the defense do the work, and it worked out for me."
"I thought early, he got barreled a little bit," Federico said of Barnes. "We made some nice plays behind him. He had a lot of strikeouts early. Then he settled in there and got his breaking ball going and his changeup early in the count. I thought he persevered through some innings with some pitches that he actually located pretty well and didn't go our way."
Deeds came out of the bullpen and allowed base runners in each inning, but worked around them to toss three scoreless innings for his third save.
Outside of Beesley's two hits, DeSimone drove in a pair of runs. Logan Wurm drew three walks, picking up an RBI and scored a run.
Nate Fisbeck and Payton Harden had two hits apiece for McNeese.
The second game of the series is at 6 p.m. Saturday at Joe Miller Ballpark. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
