MONROE, La. – Ty Barnes and Lucas Wepf combined on a one-hitter as the ULM Warhawks evened the weekend series with Georgia State after a 3-1 win Saturday afternoon at Warhawk Field.
 
Mason Holt hit a 2-run home run and added an RBI on a Georgia State (5-15 overall, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) error in the eighth inning for the only runs on the game for ULM.
 
Barnes (1-1) needed just 84 pitches to toss seven innings, giving up only a two-out solo home run to Griffin Cheney in the sixth inning. Barnes walked a batter and hit another with a pitch in the second inning but worked out of the jam with one of his five strikeouts on the afternoon.
 
For Barnes, it was a big answer to head coach Michael Federico's challenge for leadership from his team following Friday night's 4-3 loss to the Panthers.
 
"Coach needed a quality start from me," Barnes said. "It took a little while, but I got it for him. I came out there and competed. We needed this win after a tough loss last night. We had to come back today and get a win to win the series tomorrow and made it work."
 
"I had some words with some of our players and Ty was the first guy that I challenged," Federico said of Friday night's postgame discussions. "He accepted it. We need more of those moments. We need more of our players to hold each other accountable."
 
Barnes required less than 10 pitches to record all three outs in the first, third, fourth and seventh innings.
 
"You've got a free-swinging team in Georgia State," Federico said. "If you put it in the strike zone, they're going to take some whacks at it. He did a really good job of getting ahead in the count with his fastball and dumped a couple of breaking balls in there early. When it got late in the count, he was really spinning it well. He got some early outs in the game with his fastball so he didn't throw many pitches."
 
"That's my style of play: to get ahead early in the count and let them swing the bat," Barnes said. "I've got a good defense out there with a great outfield. There were a lot of fly balls today and they tracked it down for me. The low-pitch innings helped me get out longer in the game and give us a chance to win today."
 
Holt answered Cheney's home run with a 2-run shot to left centerfield in the bottom of the sixth inning for his third home run of the season. Holt picked up all three RBIs on the afternoon as he brought in pinch-runner Ryan Cupit with a ground ball on the first base line that turned into an error in the eighth inning.
 
"Last night, I had two opportunities to come out and get us back in the game and I guess I let us down," Holt said. "But it happens. It's baseball. I just waited for that moment again and did my job this time."
 
Wepf earned his first-career save by pitching two perfect innings with a career-high five strikeouts.
 
"Lucas definitely showed up and performed well," Federico said. "He spun a really good breaking ball. He got ahead as well. When you get strike one and can get leadoff batters out, it makes it a little easier to pitch."
 
Cameron Jones (0-3) suffered the tough-luck loss for Georgia State, pitching seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
 
The two teams wrap up the series at 1 p.m. Sunday at Warhawk Field. Links to live audio and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.