ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks open Sun Belt Conference play with a weekend series against Georgia State at Warhawk Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

The first two games of the series will be carried on ESPN+, while Sunday's game will not be televised. All three games of the series will be carried on 105.7 FM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call.

Friday's game is the 19th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Panthers with ULM owning an 11-7 lead in the series. The Warhawks have won six straight games against the Panthers, with ULM sweeping the series in Monroe in 2018, 9-6, 11-2, 9-4, and the Warhawks taking three wins in Atlanta in 2019, 16-8, 10-3 and 9-3.

ULM (7-6 overall) enters the series having won back-to-back games against Top-14 opponents. ULM topped No. 4 Ole Miss, 8-3, on Sunday to give the Warhawks their first win over a Top-5 opponent since 2009. ULM then followed it up by blasting No. 14 Oklahoma State, 13-6, on Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington. Prior to Sunday's win over Ole Miss, ULM had dropped 26-straight games against Top-25 competition.

Georgia State comes into the series with a 4-14 record, but don't let the mark fool you. The Panthers have only played SEC, ACC and Big 12 opponents through the first 18 games of the season, including 14 games against Top-25 competition. GSU claimed two wins on opening weekend against No. 14 West Virginia, 7-6 in 10 innings and 20-4, and have also beaten No. 2 Vanderbilt, 4-2, and No. 10 Georgia Tech, 10-1. The Panthers have lost eight-consecutive games entering Friday's game, but they were swept in that span by No. 17 Tennessee and Kentucky as well as losing midweek games to No. 2 Florida and at Clemson. The three games at ULM mark the end of a 16-game road swing for Georgia State.

On the weekends this season, ULM is 0-3 in the first game of the series, 1-2 in the second game of the series and 3-0 in the final game of the series.

LEADING OFF

• Cam Barlow makes his second Friday night start for ULM this week. The third-year freshman from Halls, Tennessee returned to the weekend at Ole Miss after making two Saturday starts in 2020. Barlow ran into trouble in the third inning at No. 4 Ole Miss on March 12, giving up five runs in the inning, including a grand slam. He pitched 2 1/3 innings against the Rebels, allowing six runs on nine hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Barlow started the season with two sharp outings in midweek games. Barlow opened the season by throwing four scoreless and hitless innings with a walk and a career-high seven strikeouts in the season-opener against Northwestern State and followed it up by allowing one run and two hits with one walk and a career-high matching seven strikeouts in five innings vs. Grambling State.

• Ty Barnes is slated to make his fourth start of 2021 on Saturday afternoon. He started the first game of each of ULM's first two weekend series. He allowed three runs on six hits with three strikeouts in three innings at No. 4 Ole Miss on March 13. The Petal, Mississippi native suffered the loss in game one of a doubleheader on March 6 vs. Nicholls, giving up three runs on four hits with six strikeouts over six innings against the Colonels. In his 2021 debut at New Orleans on Feb. 26, Barnes lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts and took a no-decision. 

• Tyler Lien has started the first three Sunday games for ULM, but Coach Michael Federico has not made an announcement on Sunday's starting pitcher for the Georgia State series. Lien picked up the win in each of his first two starts. The Kirkwood, Missouri native cruised through the first four innings against Nicholls before running into trouble in the fifth inning. He exited after the fifth inning, giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits with six strikeouts. He earned his first win of 2021 at New Orleans, giving up two runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout over 5 innings. 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. 

• Andrew Beesley moved up to the leadoff spot in the reworked batting order for Saturday's game at Ole Miss. Beeslely hit third in the order for the first 10 games of the season, but his steady approach pushed him to the leadoff role. Beesley was 0-for-3 Saturday at Ole Miss but bounced back with two hits, including a double, RBI and run scored on Sunday. On Tuesday against Oklahoma State, Beesley hit a leadoff single in the top of the first inning and scored on a Cowboy throwing error. He also walked twice in the game. A second-year senior, Beesley was selected to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team as a utility player. So far in 2021, he has started at first base and designated hitter. The Natchez, Mississippi native is hitting .277 (13-for-47) with three doubles, four RBIs, nine runs scored and three stolen bases. His nine bases on balls leads the team and boosts his on base percentage to .404. 

• Travis Washburn has started three straight games at second base. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas went 0-for-9 at the plate in the final two games of the Ole Miss series, his second and third starts of his ULM career. Washburn was 1-for-4 with a run scored against Oklahoma State. He has a knack for working at bats. On Friday, March 12, Washburn grinded out a 10-pitch at-bat before hitting a triple off the top of the right centerfield wall. He set the tone for the ULM offense on Saturday at Ole Miss by grinding out another 10-pitch at bat in his first trip to the plate before striking out.

• Mason Holt has heated back up at the plate and brings a five-game hitting streak into the Georgia State series. Holt was ULM's offensive catalyst at No. 4 Ole Miss. After picking up a hit on Friday night, Holt came through with two hits on Saturday, including a triple. He also drove in a run and scored three times. His final run came after he teamed up with Ryan Humeniuk to execute a perfect delayed double steal to give ULM a 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth inning. On Sunday, Holt had two more hits, including a double, while earning an RBI on a base hit in the eighth inning and scored once. On Tuesday against Oklahoma State, Holt had two hits, including a mammoth home run to the second deck of seats behind the Warhawk bullpen in left centerfield. On the season, Holt is hitting .373 (19-for-51) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, five RBIs, 16 runs scored, six walks, nine steals and 12 strikeouts. Holt opened the season hitting .526 (10-for-19) over the first five contests. 

• Ryan Humeniuk is another of six seniors returning in 2021 thanks to the blanket eligibility waiver passed by the NCAA for the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. The Stonewall, Manitoba native has responded with a .333 (16-for-48) batting average through 13 games with a team-best two home runs, seven RBIs, 10 runs scored, five walks and six steals. Humeniuk had a huge game on Saturday at Ole Miss, collecting three RBI singles and stealing two bases. He added an RBI single with two walks and three runs scored Tuesday vs. Oklahoma State. 

• Danny DeSimone broke out of an early season slump Tuesday against his former team in Oklahoma State. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native went 2-for-5 at the plate against the Cowboys, picking up an RBI double down the left field line in the third inning and adding a 2-run home run to right field in the seventh inning. The two hits were just the third and fourth of the season for DeSimone in his eighth game. He made his 2021 debut on March 6 against Nicholls. DeSimone missed the first five games of the season as he was working through an injury. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.

• Trace Henry dropped to sixth in the batting order in Saturday's lineup shakeup at Ole Miss. Henry collected a pair of hits including an RBI double in the third inning against Oklahoma State on Tuesday.  He made an impact on Sunday by walking three times, stealing a base, laying down a sacrifice bunt that turned into an error and scoring twice. He is hitting .265 (13-for-49) on the season with four doubles, six RBIs, eight runs, six walks, four steals and nine strikeouts. Henry had the top offensive week for ULM from March 3-7, hitting .412 (7-of-17) over four games, picking up a pair of hustle doubles and three RBIs. He had two hits in three out of the four games. He raised his batting average on the season from .118 entering the week to .265 after the March 7 game vs. Nicholls.

• Michael Cervantes appears to have won a starting role on the left side of the ULM infield. The second-year freshman from League City, Texas has now started seven consecutive games with six starts at shortstop and one at third base. He has responded by going 7-for-20 at the plate with two RBIs, four runs scored, a walk and three stolen bases. Cervantes hit safely in his first four starts before going 0-for-2 on Saturday at Ole Miss. He bounced back with his best offensive day as a Warhawk on Sunday, picking up a career-high three hits with an RBI single in the five-run fourth inning, two runs scored and a stolen base. He added a 2-RBI triple in the four-run top of the first inning against Oklahoma State on Tuesday. Cervantes made just two appearances in the first six games of the season, registering one at bat.

• Logan Wurm had two hits and three RBIs on Tuesday against Oklahoma State. The second-year senior from Marysville, California dropped in a bloop RBI double down the right field line in the third inning and added a 2-run home run, the first of his career, in the seventh inning. Wurm made an important offensive impact in the final game of the Ole Miss series. He went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, hitting a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and an RBI single in the two-run fifth inning. He also allowed the second run of the fifth inning to score when he intentionally got in a run-down between first and second base and maintained the run-down long enough for Cervantes to sneak home from third to push the ULM lead to 7-3. Wurm is hitting .237 (9-for-38) in 12 games but had three of his hits in the series finale vs. UNO on Feb. 28. Wurm has a three doubles to his credit this season with a team-high 10 RBIs. Against Nicholls, Wurm laid down a safety squeeze bunt for an RBI in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader and laced a two-RBI single to left in Sunday's series finale. Coach Mike Federico says Wurm is considered the best bunter on the team.

• Grant Schulz has gone from a platoon player to a full-time starter early in 2021. The Mereaux, Louisiana native has a .216 (8-for-37) average through 13 games, including a double, home run, eight RBIs, four runs scored and seven walks. Against Ole Miss, Schulz was 1-for-7 at the plate with a walk, with both the hit and the walk coming in Sunday's 8-3 victory. After opening the season 0-for-7, Schulz went 4-of-7 over the final two games of the New Orleans series, picking up his double and homer as well as three of his six RBIs. 

• Wiley Cleland has had a tough past seven games for ULM, hitting 3-for-20 with three RBIs, three runs scored, a walk and eight strikeouts. He was 0-for-2 in the series opener at Ole Miss and has not started in three consecutive games. He pinch-hit in the eighth inning on Saturday and delivered a single as the Warhawks scored three runs in the inning to take a 5-4 lead. Cleland was 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored against Louisiana Tech on March 9. Cleland, who has split his time between first and second base defensively, is hitting .263 (10-for-38) with a home run, nine RBIs, seven runs scored and two stolen bases. He collected three hits and three RBIs in the Feb. 24 season-opener vs. Northwestern State.

• Matthew Lee made his ULM debut with a midweek start behind the plate against Grambling State on March 3 and made his second start vs. Louisiana Tech on March 9. The freshman from Baton Rouge has yet to pick up his first career hit in five at bats but worked his way on base twice and scored twice against Grambling. Lee, along with Britt McKay and Chris Noble, is expected to back up Wurm at catcher and allow him to have some midweek games off.

• Colby Deaville started in the first six games for ULM and has made one start over the last seven games for the Warhawks. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has five hits on the season, with one coming on Saturday in his most recent start at Ole Miss. He doubled in three straight games, including the final two games of the New Orleans series and the midweek game vs. Grambling. He is hitting .217 (5-for-23) with three doubles, two runs scored, a walk and two stolen bases in 2021.

• Justin King and Carson Jones have also drawn starts early in the season. King started the first two games at designated hitter before Jones started Feb. 27 at second. King is also expected to be used out of the bullpen this season and has made one appearance, pitching the ninth inning against Louisiana Tech on March 9. He made two pinch hitting appearances at Ole Miss, earning his second RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning on Friday night. Jones returned to the starting lineup March 3 vs. Grambling and had his first-career hit and played late in the first two games of the series at Ole Miss.

• Trey Lindsay, Carson Orton and Bryson Wrobel have become the top mid-game options out of the bullpen for ULM head coach Michael Federico. Lindsay leads the team and is third in the Sun Belt Conference with a 0.73 ERA over 12 1/3 innings. He pitched four total innings over three outings in the past week and allowed just one of six inherited base runners to score. Carson Orton has a 1.93 ERA over 9 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. The Oklahoma City native came on with runners on second and third with two outs Saturday night and retired the next batter to end the inning. He carried the Warhawk lead into the ninth inning on Sunday before giving way to Lindsay to shut the game down. Wrobel, who is from Justin, Texas, just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, has a 3.86 ERA over 4 2/3 innings, but pitched two shutout innings and did not allow an inherited runner to score in Sunday's win over Ole Miss.