ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks go on the road for the first time in 2021 as they take on New Orleans for a three-game weekend series at Maestri Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
ULM is 1-0 after defeating Northwestern State, 5-2, on Wednesday night in the season opener. The Warhawks opened with the home midweek game after last weekend's series with SIUE was canceled due to poor field conditions following a pair of winter storms that impacted northeast Louisiana.
 
Cam Barlow (1-0) earned his first win of 2021 on Wednesday. Barlow tossed four scoreless and hitless innings while striking out a career-high seven batters. The Halls, Tennessee, native is a third-year freshman for ULM after redshirting the 2019 season and making three starts in 2020. Last season, Barlow was 2-0 with a 4.38 ERA over 12 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits with five walks and nine strikeouts. His best start was his final start of the season, where he threw six scoreless innings with four strikeouts at McNeese State on March 7.
 
The Warhawk offense featured eight returning players out of nine spots in the lineup. Alabama transfer Justin King was the only non-returner to crack the starting nine. ULM averaged 9.1 runs per game last season, pushing across 155 runs in 17 games.
 
ULM's two, three and four-hole hitters drove the offense on Wednesday vs. Northwestern State, accounting for all five runs scored and had four RBIs. Mason Holt tallied two hits, including a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Holt later reached on a single and a walk and scored three times. Andrew Beesley hit a hustle double on a flair to left-center field in the first inning. After moving to third, Beesley took home on a steal following a throw by the NSU catcher to second base. Beesley also walked twice and scored twice. Wiley Cleland collected a team-high three hits and drove in three runs, with two coming on a chopper that bounced over a drawn-in infield.
 
Outside of the 2-3-4 order, ULM was 1-for-21 at the plate. Logan Wurm picked up the only hit outside of the Holt-Beesley-Cleland triumvirate, coming through with a double in the sixth inning. Ryan Humeniuk and Justin King also reached base on walks.
 
Four pitchers made their ULM debuts on Wednesday night out of the bullpen. Trey Lindsay pitched the fifth and sixth innings, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts. Carson Orton followed with a perfect seventh inning, earning a strikeout. Steve Owings got into trouble in the eighth inning, hitting the first two batters he faced with a pitch. A fielding error loaded the bases with no outs, and Daunte Stuart followed with a 2-RBI double. However, a shallow pop fly, a perfectly executed pick play at third base by Grant Schulz and a strikeout got Owings out of the jam. Reid Goleman worked around a pair of baserunners in the ninth inning.
 
The Warhawks are coming off a 12-5 season in 2020 after the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ULM opened the season 12-2 before dropping the final three games ahead of the stoppage. The Warhawks won two out of three games in weekend series against Southeast Missouri State, Illinois State and McNeese State while also sweeping Grambling State. ULM won three of its five mid-week games, sweeping Southeastern Louisiana and picking up a victory against Jackson State before suffering a pair of losses to No. 5 Ole Miss in Monroe to close the season.
 
ULM used an incredible offensive effort to open the 2020 season 12-5. The Warhawks topped 20 runs scored in three different games, crossing the threshold against Grambling State, Southeastern Louisiana and Illinois State. In the truncated season, ULM led the Sun Belt Conference in batting average (.311), on base percentage (.433), runs scored (155), scoring (9.1 runs per game), stolen bases (36), stolen bases per game (2.1) and triples (6).
 
The Warhawk pitching staff also had success, with Ty Barnes posting a 3-1 record with a 2.16 ERA in four Friday night starts. Barnes allowed just one hit in each of his first two starts, throwing six innings against Southeast Missouri State and seven innings vs. Grambling State. Barnes wrapped up his season with his third win, giving up a pair of runs on five hits over six innings at McNeese State.
 
Tylor Jans is slated to make his Warhawk debut as Saturday's starting pitcher. Jans, a sophomore transfer from Cloud County Community College, was 1-3 with a 4.75 ERA over 36 innings with 33 strikeouts as a freshman in 2019. Statistics from the shortened 2020 season were not available. He is one of four Canadians on the ULM roster, joining Ryan Humeniuk, Justin King and Lucas Wepf.
 
Tyler Lien moves into the weekend rotation to start the 2021 season. Lien was ULM's midweek starting pitcher in 2020, going 2-0 with a 2.73 ERA in 13 1/3 innings across three starts. He pitched three hitless innings, giving up one run, in his Warhawk debut vs. Southern. He tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings with four hits and three strikeouts against Jackson State. He ended the season by giving up three runs, all in the first inning, to Ole Miss. He settled down after the first to limit the No. 5 ranked Rebels to one hit over the next four innings.

For links to live video, audio and stats this weekend, visit the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.