ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - ULM continues a five-game road swing with its first Sun Belt Conference road series of the season this weekend at Texas State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos.

Friday and Sunday's contests will be televised by ESPN+, while a video stream will not be offered for Saturday's game. All three games in the series will be carried on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call.

Friday's game is the 82nd all-time meeting between ULM and Texas State with the Bobcats leading the series, 46-35. ULM won the last meeting between the two teams, taking an 8-0 win in the second round of the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship in Conway, S.C. Texas State swept the last regular season series between the pair, winning 5-1, 6-5 and 13-1 in seven innings on March 22-24, 2019, in San Marcos.

ULM (9-8 overall, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) comes in off a 9-7 loss to No. 23 Louisiana Tech on Tuesday at J.C. Love Field and Pat Patterson Park in Ruston. The Warhawks rallied from a three-run deficit to claim a 7-6 lead in the seventh inning on Danny DeSimone's 3-run home run, but LA Tech answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim the lead. ULM opened SBC play last week with a 2-1 series win over Georgia State, dropping the Friday night game 4-3 before winning the final two games of the series, 3-1 and 9-7.

Texas State (9-13 overall, 0-3 Sun Belt Conference) picked up a 5-2 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday night at Bobcat Ballpark to stop a three-game losing streak. Texas State was swept by Little Rock on the opening weekend of SBC play, falling 2-1 in 11 innings, 12-0 and 7-4 in Little Rock.

ULM is 0-4 in the opening game of weekend series, while bouncing back to 2-2 in game two and is 4-0 in Sunday series finales.

LEADING OFF

• Cam Barlow makes his third 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. Last week, Barlow took his second consecutive loss, throwing 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts as ULM fell to Georgia State, 4-3. Barlow made his first weekend start of 2021 on March 12 at No. 4 Ole Miss, giving up six runs on nine hits with one walk and four strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings. 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 fifth start of 2021 on Saturday afternoon. He made his best start of 2021 last Saturday against Georgia State, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He allowed only a solo home run with a walk and five strikeouts over seven innings to earn his first win of the season. He started the first game of each of ULM's first two weekend series. 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 four Sunday games for ULM. He bounced back from a tough outing at Ole Miss with his third win of the season against Georgia State. He threw six innings, giving up three runs, all in the seventh inning, on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. 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.

• Andrew Beesley has bounced between batting third and hitting leadoff for the Warhawks. Beeslely hit third in the order for the first 10 games of the season, but his steady approach pushed him to the leadoff role against right-handed pitchers starting on March 13 at No. 4 Ole Miss. Beesley was 0-for-3 March 13 at Ole Miss but bounced back with two hits, including a double, RBI and run scored on March 14. He collected two hits with an RBI on an infield single in the six-run second inning Sunday vs. Georgia State and added two more hits with a double, RBI and three runs scored at No. 23 Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. 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 .262 (16-for-61) with three doubles, five RBIs, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases. His nine bases on balls leads the team and boosts his on base percentage to .366. He has just three walks over the last 10 games.

• Michael Cervantes continues to play steady on the left side of the infield. second-year freshman from League City, Texas has now started 11 consecutive games with 10 starts at shortstop and one at third base. He has responded by going 12-for-36 (.333) at the plate with four RBIs, six runs scored, two walks and three stolen bases. Cervantes has hit safely in nine of his 11 starts. He had his best offensive day as a Warhawk on March 14 at Ole Miss, 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 March 16. He had two hits in the series-opener against Georgia State on Friday. Cervantes made just two appearances in the first six games of the season, registering one at bat.

• Wiley Cleland is trying to emerge from a slump and has earned three straight starts at third base after being removed from the regular lineup ahead of the March 13 game against No. 4 Ole Miss. Cleland picked up his second three-hit game of the season on Sunday against Georgia State. Prior to Sunday's game, Cleland was hitting 3-for-25 (.120) over his previous nine games. He has started the last three games at third base and has seen time at first base and second base as well in the first 17 games of the season. Cleland is hitting .269 (14-for-52) 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.

• Danny DeSimone has been flashing his power over the last week. DeSimone has belted a 3-run home run in each of the last two games, including the go-ahead blast in the seventh inning against No. 23 Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. He broke out of an early season slump March 16 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. 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 has bounced around the batting order, hitting sixth against right-handed pitching and batting leadoff against lefties. He has hit safely in five consecutive games after picking up three hits with a double and a run scored at No. 23 Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. He had two hits on Sunday vs. Georgia State. It was his fifth two-hit game of the season. He has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games dating back to the first game of the series at New Orleans on Feb. 26. He is hitting .312 (20-for-64) on the season with five doubles, seven RBIs, 10 runs, seven walks, six steals and 11 strikeouts. 

• Mason Holt had a career-best seven-game hitting streak come to an end on Sunday vs. Georgia State.  Holt drove the offense in Saturday's come-from-behind win over Georgia State, hitting the go-ahead 2-run home run to left field and adding an RBI when he grounded into an error in the eighth inning. On March 16 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. Holt was ULM's offensive catalyst at No. 4 Ole Miss. After picking up a hit on March 12, Holt came through with two hits on March 13, 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 March 14, Holt had two more hits, including a double, while earning an RBI on a base hit in the eighth inning and scored once. On the season, Holt is hitting .309 (21-for-68) with three doubles, two triples, three home runs, nine RBIs, 20 runs scored, eight walks, 10 steals and 17 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 team-best .349 (22-for-63) batting average through 17 games with four doubles, two home runs, 10 RBIs, 13 runs scored, six walks and seven steals. He continued his recent tear with three hits, including two doubles, with two RBIs at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. Humeniuk hit safely in all three games of the Georgia State series over the weekend, including a double and two runs scored in Sunday's series finale. Humeniuk had a huge game on March 13 at Ole Miss, collecting three RBI singles and stealing two bases. 

• Travis Washburn has started seven straight games at second base. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in each of the last five games after collecting a career-high three hits, including a double, with a run scored, one walk and a steal at Louisiana Tech. He hit safely in all three games of the Georgia State series. Washburn was 1-for-4 with an RBI on a bunt single on Sunday vs. GSU. He has a knack for working at bats. On March 12 at Ole Miss, 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 March 13 at Ole Miss by grinding out another 10-pitch at bat in his first trip to the plate before striking out.

• Logan Wurm had two hits and three RBIs on March 16 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 .222 (10-for-45) in 16 games but had three of his hits in the series finale vs. UNO on Feb. 28. Wurm has 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 the March 6 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.

• 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 Sun Belt Conference with a 0.60 ERA over 15 innings. He threw the final 1 1/3 innings on Tuesday at Louisiana Tech, giving up a hit and striking out one. Lindsay allowed an unearned run over 1 1/3 innings to earn his first save on Sunday vs. Georgia State. He pitched four total innings over three outings in the previous week and allowed just one of six inherited base runners to score. Carson Orton has a 3.75 ERA over 10 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. The Oklahoma City native came on with runners on second and third with two outs on March 13 at No. 4 Ole Miss and retired the next batter to end the inning. He carried the Warhawk lead into the ninth inning on March 14 before giving way to Lindsay to shut the game down. Wrobel has a 2.45 ERA over 7 1/3 innings. He threw a scoreless inning on Sunday vs. Georgia State. He pitched two shutout innings and did not allow an inherited runner to score in the March 14 win over Ole Miss.