ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks open a five-game homestand at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, when Grambling State visits Warhawk Field. It marks the first of two scheduled midweek meetings between ULM and Grambling in the 2021 season, with ULM returning the trip to Grambling on March 30.

The two teams were initially scheduled to meet on Tuesday, March 2, but the game was postponed to Wednesday due to wet field conditions and rain forecasted for the Monroe area on Tuesday.

ULM (2-2) salvaged the weekend series against New Orleans with a 7-2 win on Sunday at Maestri Field in New Orleans. The Warhawks pounded out 15 hits, including eight for extra bases, in the victory. Eight different Warhawks had at least one hit and seven different players drove in a run.

ULM dropped the first two games of the series, giving up a 6-0 lead in a 7-run fifth inning on Friday night as the Privateers rallied for the 7-6 win. UNO answered ULM's offense every time on Saturday and added two runs in the sixth inning to pick up a 7-4 victory.

Through the first four games of the season, the strength of ULM's offense has been in the middle of the order. Mason Holt, who transitioned to the leadoff spot on Sunday, leads the way with a .500 (8-for-16) batting average with one double, one home run, one RBI, five runs scored, three walks and three stolen bases. Wiley Cleland is hitting .389 (7-for-18) with a team-high six RBIs. Ryan Humeniuk is hitting .353 (6-for-17) with three runs scored and Andrew Beesley is at .333 (5-for-15) with a double, RBI and five runs scored.

Grambling (0-3) finally opened its season in Memphis on Friday after its season-opening weekend at the Andre Dawson Classic in New Orleans was canceled. Memphis held on for an 11-9 win in the series opener on Friday before earning an 11-3 win in seven innings in what was to be game one of a doubleheader on Saturday. The second game was postponed to Sunday, where Memphis cruised to a 17-3 win.

Michael Mims III is pacing Grambling through the first three games, hitting 5-for-11 at Memphis with two doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, four runs scored and a walk. Warren Laster is 5-for-13 with a triple and an RBI. Nehemiah Wright is third on the team going 3-for-8 with two doubles and a run scored.

SERIES HISTORY
ULM leads the all-time series against Grambling State 54-15 after the Warhawks swept a three-game series in Monroe in 2020. ULM won by scores of 15-0, 7-6 and 23-12.

The Warhawks have won four straight games in the series, dating back to a 16-2 win over the Tigers on May 1, 2018 at Warhawk Field. Grambling State last defeated ULM, 9-7, on April 17, 2018. The Tigers last won at Warhawk Field, 15-5, on March 31, 2010, a streak of 10 games.

LEADING OFF
Wednesday night's probable starting pitcher, Cam Barlow, opened the 2021 season in style. Barlow, a third-year freshman from Halls, Tennessee, did not allow a run or a hit to Northwestern State over four innings with a career-high seven strikeouts. Barlow is set to face Grambling for the first time in his career after he was a late scratch from a scheduled Saturday night start vs. the Tigers in 2020 due to illness.

Mason Holt continues to rake at the plate to open the 2021 season. Holt leads the team with a .500 batting average on the season (8-of-16) with a double and home run. He also leads the team with his five runs scored and three stolen bases. The junior outfielder from Coppell, Texas was 6-of-13 (.462) with a double, two walks, two runs scored and two stolen bases in the weekend series at New Orleans. He has multiple hits in three out of four games this season, including three against UNO on Friday.

Wiley Cleland has had the other hot hand for ULM offensively. Cleland, who has split his time between first and second base defensively, is hitting .389 (7-of-18) with a home run, a team-high six RBIs, four runs scored and two stolen bases. Cleland hit 4-of-14 (.286) in the three-game series at New Orleans, including three of his six RBIs and a solo home run on Sunday. The Columbia, Mississippi, native collected three hits and three RBIs in last week's season-opener vs. Northwestern State.

Ryan Humeniuk is one 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 .353 (6-of-17) batting average through four games with a home run, one RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base. After opening the season 0-of-3 against Northwestern State, he responded with a 6-of-14 (.429) weekend at New Orleans, following up Cleland's home run with one of his own.

Andrew Beesley has held down the third spot in the batting order in the first four games. Another 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. Beesley is hitting .333 (5-of-15) with a double, RBI, five runs scored and two stolen bases. His four bases on balls leads the team and boosts his on base percentage to .474. The Natchez, Mississippi native hit a double in his first at-bat of the season against Northwestern State.

Grant Schulz has gone from a platoon player to a full-time starter early in 2021. The Mereaux, Louisiana native has a .286 (4-of-14) average through four games, including a double, home run, four RBIs, two runs scored and two walks. 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 four RBIs.

Logan Wurm had a strong finish to the UNO series. The second-year senior from Marysville, California is hitting .250 (4-of-16) in four games but had three of his hits in the series finale vs. the Privateers. Wurm has a pair of doubles to his credit this season with two RBIs. He has started all four games behind the plate for ULM.

Colby Deaville and Trace Henry also return from the 2020 squad and have started all four games for ULM. Deaville is hitting .231 (3-of-13). He has two doubles, with one in each of the last two games. Henry opened in the leadoff spot but slid to second in the order on Sunday. He has hit safely in back-to-back games, including a double in Sunday's series finale at New Orleans.

Justin King, Carson Jones and Travis Washburn have also drawn starts early in the season. King started the first two games at designated hitter before Jones started Saturday at second base and Washburn started Sunday at second base. Washburn had two hits, including a triple, and scored twice in Sunday's win over New Orleans.

In the bullpen, Carson Orton (4 innings pitched), Landon Longsworth (3 IP), Reid Goleman (2 IP) and Cole Martin (1 1/3 IP) have each worked more than one inning without allowing an earned run. Goleman and Steve Owings lead the bullpen with three strikeouts each.

Sunday starting pitcher Tyler Lien earned his first win of 2021 against UNO. Lien tossed five innings, giving up two runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout. Lien started three games in 2020, posting a 2-0 mark with a 2.70 ERA, giving up four runs on eight hits with five walks and 11 strikeouts in the midweek role. 

WARHAWK NOTES
WARHAWKS KEEP ON SWINGING
After ranking as one of the top offensive teams in the nation in the COVID-19 pandemic shortened 2020 season, the ULM offense has picked back up again in 2021. Through Sunday's games, ULM leads the Sun Belt Conference with a .293 team batting average, which ranks 44th in NCAA Division I. When the 2020 season came to an end, ULM led the Sun Belt Conference with a .311 batting average and ranked 15th in the nation.

Mason Holt leads the SBC with a .500 batting average and ranks 24th nationally. Wiley Cleland is 12th in the SBC at .389.

GRAND THEFT BASE
Through Sunday's games, ULM leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks ninth nationally in stolen bases per game with 2.5 steals per game. Despite playing up to three games fewer than other SBC opponents, ULM still ranks fourth in the league and 42nd nationally with its 10 stolen bases. In 2020, ULM led the Sun Belt and ranked 16th nationally at 2.12 steals per game, while the 36 stolen bases in 17 games ranked 10th nationally.

Mason Holt is second in the Sun Belt and 43rd nationally with three stolen bases. On a per-game basis, Holt leads the SBC and is 15th nationally at .75 steals per game. Andrew Beesley, Wiley Cleland and Colby Deaville are part of a tie for eighth in the Sun Belt with two stolen bases each.

SHUTTING DOWN THE OPPOSITION
Through Sunday's contests, ULM ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference and 43rd in NCAA Division I in hits allowed per game at 6.88. The Warhawks have not allowed more than eight hits in a game through the first four games of the season. ULM limited Northwestern State to three hits in the season opener Wednesday.

BARLOW, ORTON AMONG SUN BELT'S BEST
ULM midweek starting pitcher Cam Barlow and relief pitcher Carson Orton rank among the top pitchers in the Sun Belt through Sunday's games. Barlow and Orton are two of seven qualifying players in the SBC and 115 in the nation to post a 0.00 ERA. 

Barlow also leads the conference with 0.00 hits allowed per nine innings and is one of six qualifying pitchers nationally yet to allow a hit. He is second in the SBC and third nationally with a 0.25 WHIP. He is also second in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (15.75) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.00).

Orton is ninth in the SBC allowing 4.50 hits per nine innings.

HOLT'S HOT START
Mason Holt has been ULM's catalyst offensively through the first four contests of the season. Holt leads the Warhawks with a .500 batting average, eight hits, one home run, 12 total bases, five runs scored, three stolen bases, .579 on base percentage and .750 slugging percentage.

In addition to leading the Sun Belt in batting average (.500) and ranking second in stolen bases (3), Holt leads the conference in hits per game (2.00), is second in on base percentage (.579) and runs per game (1.25) and sixth in slugging percentage (.750).

CLELAND ROCKS
Wiley Cleland has been a major contributor to the ULM offense through the first four games in 2021. Cleland is second on the team with a .389 batting average and leads the club with six RBIs. He has seven hits with a home run, four runs scored, a walk and two stolen bases.

Cleland ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference in RBIs per game (1.50) and third in hits per game (1.75)

WALK THIS WAY
Andrew Beesley continues to display patience at the plate in 2021. Beesley ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference in bases on balls per game (1.00) and has drawn four walks in the first four games. In 2020, Beelsey led the Warhawks and ranked fifth in the Sun Belt with 13 walks. As a team, ULM led the Sun Belt in walks in 2020 with 105 walks in 17 games (6.2 bases on balls per game).

O CANADA!
The 2021 ULM baseball roster features four players from Canada: Outfielder Ryan Humeniuk (Stonewall, Manitoba), pitcher Tylor Jans (Edmonton, Alberta), outfielder/pitcher Justin King (Okotoks, Alberta) and pitcher Lucas Wepf (Brampton, Ontario). ULM is tied with Oregon State, Kansas State, Marshall and VCU for the fourth most Canadian players on 2021 rosters. Only Niagara (17), Canisius (8) and Sacramento State (5) have more Canadians on their roster in NCAA Division I.

SEASON OPENING SUCCESS
ULM's 5-2 win over Northwestern State on a weather-delayed opening night gave the Warhawks their fourth opening-night win in the last five years. In that stretch, ULM has topped Dallas Baptist in 2017 (8-3), Eastern Illinois in 2018 (4-3, 10 innings), Southeast Missouri State in 2020 (5-1) and NSU in 2021. ULM's only setback came against No. 1 LSU in 2019 in Baton Rouge, falling 12-7 after the game was tied at 7 in the eighth inning.

BEESLEY SELECTED PRESEASON ALL-SUN BELT
ULM senior Andrew Beesley has been named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team as a utility player. The team was voted on by the conference's head coaches.

It is the second consecutive season Beesley is selected to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team. The Natchez, Mississippi native was second on the team and fifth in the SBC with a .400 batting average in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. He added four doubles, one triple, one home run, 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored while finishing a perfect five-for-five in stolen base attempts. He also walked a team-high 13 times and was hit by a pitch four times as he compiled a .565 on base percentage.

The Warhawks were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt West Division and ninth overall in the conference. Coastal Carolina was picked to win the Sun Belt while Texas State was chosen to win the West Division.