LAKE CHARLES, La. – ULM built a five-run lead, and then held off a late rally from McNeese State, to pick up the 5-3 win and earn at least a series victory Saturday night at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Cam Barlow tossed six shutout innings to earn his second win, needing just 62 pitches to navigate the six innings. Barlow gave up no runs on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
"I thought his tempo was tremendous," ULM head coach Michael Federico said. "He was literally throwing the first pitch of the inning and our guys really weren't even ready. There was one time I was yelling at Wiley (Cleland) to turn around because he was talking to one of the outfielders. Ryan (Humeniuk) came back in from left field one inning and said he didn't know (Barlow) was throwing the first pitch. Cam Barlow has to compete. When he gets his tempo, he's fun to play behind. You know he's going to give up hits, but we made a couple of really nice plays defensively behind him."
The offense had a frustrating day early, stranding six runners on base over the first four innings against McNeese starter Kale Breaux.
"I didn't think we panicked," Federico said. "I think Coach (Matt) Collins was a little antsy and jittery, and rightfully so. Sometimes when we've been scoring runs like we have, you expect it. You demand it from those guys. I think we handled it very well and I didn't think we panicked."
In the fifth inning, ULM broke through. With the bases loaded and two outs, Grant Schulz hit a 2-RBI single just past the glove of shortstop Reid Bourque, scoring Danny DeSimone and Ryan Humeniuk for the 2-0 lead.
In the seventh inning, ULM struck for its other three runs. Wiley Cleland hit a two-RBI double to deep left center field, scoring both DeSimone and Humeniuk for the 4-0 lead. After Cleland moved down to third on Cameron Horton's sacrifice bunt, a passed ball allowed Cleland to score for the 5-0 lead.
McNeese tried to rally in the bottom of the eighth inning. Warhawk pitching issued four walks in the inning while the Cowboys had just one hit, Bourque's RBI single, as they pushed across three runs to cut the gap to 5-3.
ULM turned to Brock Figueroa in the bottom of the ninth inning, and he responded, retiring all three batters he faced while picking up a strikeout to close the game for his first save of the season.
Humeniuk and Schulz had two hits apiece for the Warhawks as eight different players had at least one hit in the game. Bourque and Jake Dickerson had two hits each for McNeese.
Federico said his team dealt with adversity early and often on Saturday, starting with a first inning injury to Andrew Beesley, who was hurt while sliding into second base off a stolen base attempt.
"(Ryan) Cupit comes in and has some quality at bats, but he throws a guy out at second base, too," Federico said. "It's ironic that Beesley always says in the dugout, the next guy up, and Cupit was huge for that."
Federico said while it wasn't the best game the Warhawks have played this year, he'll take it.
"It wasn't the cleanest we've played all year, but I don't care, because we won," Federico said. "That's all it takes. I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of the way that we overcame some things. Now we have a chance to go do something special on the road."
The Warhawks go for a series sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
