SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State's Dalton Shuffield hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to put the Bobcats on top and Justin Thompson's 2-run blast in the eighth added insurance as Texas State topped ULM, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark to take two out of three games in the series.
 
"I thought we battled," ULM head coach Michael Federico said. "We gave ourselves opportunities to win all three games. We're close. We've been close for three years now it seems like. We've got to have some breakthrough moments. We've got to be better in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings in all capacities: offensively, defensively and pitching. That's where we're losing ball games right now."
 
The two teams battled a stiff northeast wind which was sustained in the 30 to 40 m.p.h. range for much of the game, blowing in out of centerfield.
 
"Both offenses kind of struggled," Federico said. "I thought we both hit some balls hard and that wind was playing havoc on everything."
 
ULM opened the game with a bang as Trace Henry tripled to right centerfield. However, Henry suffered a leg injury on the play. He remained in the game to score on Andrew Beesley's RBI groundout but was replaced by Ryan Cupit in the field. The Warhawks led 1-0 after an inning.
 
Texas State answered in the second inning as Bryce Bonner led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a wild pitch and a stolen base. Bonner scored as the Warhawks were unable to turn an inning-ending double play on a close play at first base, as Cole Coffey picked up an RBI. Texas State tied the game at 1.
 
ULM's best scoring opportunity over the remainder of the game was in the sixth inning. Cupit singled to lead off the inning and Mason Holt was hit by a pitch. After Beesley successfully executed a sacrifice bunt to move Cupit and Holt to second and third, Texas State intentionally walked Ryan Humeniuk to face Justin King. King flew out to center and Cupit was thrown out at home while trying to score on the fly ball to end the inning.
 
The game remained tied to the seventh inning. The wind seemingly calmed some as Dalton Shuffield stepped to the plate and hit a solo home run to left center for Texas State, putting the Bobcats up, 2-1. Justin Thompson hit a 2-run home run to left in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend the lead to 4-1.
 
Bryson Wrobel (1-2) suffered the loss in relief, giving up a run on one hit with no walks and no strikeouts over 1 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Tyler Lien took a no-decision in his start, pitching 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
 
"The wind helped him out tremendously," Federico said of Lien. "He couldn't land his breaking ball, but his changeup was good and he really located his fastball to both halves of the plate. We were able to pitch in a lot more because of the wind. He didn't give up any hard-hit balls. Everything was kind of weak contact. He limited his walks. I thought he executed some really good pitches."
 
The Warhawks also battled injuries and illness on the weekend. In addition to losing Henry on Sunday, ULM lost Danny DeSimone and Logan Wurm to injuries on Friday night and starting pitcher Ty Barnes was scratched from his start on Saturday due to illness.
 
"Having four of our key guys out in the weekend was tough," Federico said. "It's part of baseball, it's part of sports. It's disappointing because Trace got off to the good start. He's been seeing the ball well. He's been scoring some runs for us. We've got to get Danny and Wurm checked out. They'll see the doctor tomorrow. Ty's feeling better."
 
The Warhawks wrap up the five-game road swing with a 6 p.m. first pitch Tuesday at Grambling State. Links to coverage of Tuesday night's game are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.