ULM Warhawks

ULM (10-10 overall, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference) at Grambling State (5-14 overall, 3-3 SWAC)
12 p.m. March 30 | Wilbert-Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park | Grambling, La.
Cole Cressend, Fr., RHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA

MONROE, La. - ULM concludes a five-game road swing with its second meeting of the season against Grambling State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Wilbert-Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park in Grambling.
 
There is no video stream available for Tuesday's game. The game will be broadcast on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call.
 
Tuesday's game is the 71st all-time meeting between ULM and GSU with the Warhawks leading the series 55-15. ULM has won five straight games in the series, dating back to a 16-2 win over the Tigers on May 1, 2018 at Warhawk Field. The Warhawks swept last year's weekend series by scores of 15-0, 7-6 and 23-12. ULM won the first meeting this season, 9-1, on March 3. The Tigers won the last meeting in Grambling, 9-7, on April 17, 2018.
 
ULM (10-10 overall, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference) dropped two of three games over the weekend to Texas State in San Marcos. ULM won the series opener against the Bobcats, 6-5, on Friday night after scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. Texas State answered back on Saturday, winning 6-5 in 10 innings after tying the game with 2-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Bobcats then used two home runs, one in the seventh inning and another in the eighth inning, to beat ULM on Sunday, 4-1. The Warhawks are 3-2 in midweek games this season.
 
Grambling State (5-14 overall, 3-3 SWAC) lost two out of three games over the weekend to UT Martin at Wilbert-Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park in Grambling. The Tigers won the middle game of the series, taking game one of Sunday's doubleheader, 5-2. UTM won the series opener on Saturday, 18-4, and took the second game of Sunday's doubleheader, 6-5 in 12 innings. The series was set up last week after Grambling had the Lone Star Diamond Classic series against Prairie View A&M postponed due to COVID-19 concerns in the PVAMU program.
 
The Warhawks are 3-2 in midweek games this season while Grambling is 1-3 in midweek contests.
 
LEADING OFF
 
Cole Cressend will make his first-career start Tuesday at Grambling. The true freshman from Baton Rouge will make just his third appearance on the mound after throwing a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout against Grambling on March 3 and 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit, two walks and two strikeouts at No. 4 Ole Miss on March 12.
 
Andrew Beesley has hit in the top third of the order for the Warhawks this season. After Friday's injury to Danny DeSimone, Beesley made just his second start of the season in the field on Sunday at Texas State, starting at first base. He had a modest five-game hitting streak snapped in Sunday's loss to the Bobcats, where he went 0-for-3 with an RBI. Over the last five games, Beesley is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with a double, three RBIs, six runs, a walk and no strikeouts with three two-hit games. 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 .280 (21-for-75) with four doubles, seven RBIs, 15 runs scored and five stolen bases. His 10 bases on balls leads the team and boosts his on base percentage to .379. He has just four walks over the last 13 games.
 
Michael Cervantes continues to play steady on the left side of the infield. The second-year freshman from League City, Texas has now started 14 consecutive games with 13 starts at shortstop and one at third base. He has responded by going 16-for-48 (.333) at the plate with seven RBIs, eight runs scored, two walks and three stolen bases. Cervantes has hit safely in 12 of his 14 starts. He hit his first-career home run, a 3-run blast, on Saturday at Texas State. He added a 2-RBI triple in the four-run top of the first inning against Oklahoma State on March 16. 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. Cervantes made just two appearances in the first six games of the season, registering one at bat. He has hit safely in four straight games.
 
Wiley Cleland has made his last five starts at third base after starting the season by splitting time between first base and second base. Cleland is hitting .242 (15-for-62) with a home run, nine RBIs, eight runs scored and two stolen bases. He had a three-hit day in the series finale vs. Georgia State on March 21. He collected three hits and three RBIs in the Feb. 24 season-opener vs. Northwestern State. All nine of Cleland's RBIs came in the first five games of the season, including a 3-RBI game vs. Grambling State on March 3.
 
Danny DeSimone left Friday's game at Texas State after his second at bat with an apparent arm injury. Prior to the injury, he had been flashing his power over the previous week. DeSimone belted a 3-run home run in back-to-back games, doing so at No. 23 Louisiana Tech and in the series finale vs. Georgia State. 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. DeSimone missed the first five games of the season as he was working through an injury. He is tied with Ryan Humeniuk for the team lead with 13 RBIs. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.
 
Trace Henry returned to the leadoff spot in the order over the weekend at Texas State. He has hit safely in a career-high eight consecutive games after coming through with a lead off triple on Sunday at Texas State. Henry had one hit in each game at Texas State after picking up three hits with a double and a run scored at No. 23 Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. He had two hits in the series finale vs. Georgia State. He has six multi-hit games on the season. He has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games dating back to the first game of the series at New Orleans on Feb. 26. He is hitting .315 (23-for-73) on the season with six doubles, eight RBIs, 12 runs, seven walks, eight steals and 12 strikeouts.
 
Mason Holt has been one of the best hitters for ULM in 2021. Holt drove the offense in the March 20 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 .304 (24-for-79) with three doubles, two triples, three home runs, nine RBIs, 22 runs scored, 10 walks, 12 steals and 20 strikeouts. Holt opened the season hitting .526 (10-for-19) over the first five contests.
 
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 team-best .329 (24-for-73) batting average through 20 games with four doubles, two home runs, 13 RBIs, 13 runs scored, nine walks and eight steals. At Texas State, Humeniuk had two hits, including the go-ahead 2-RBI single in the eighth inning Saturday. He picked up 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.
 
Grant Schulz played a big role off the bench Friday at Texas State. Schulz came on after Danny DeSimone was injured in the third inning. In his first trip to the plate in the fifth inning, Schulz came through with a two-out RBI double to extend the ULM lead back to four runs. In the ninth inning, with ULM's lead down to a run, Schulz cut off a ground ball on the infield, spun and threw on target to first base to pick up the second out of the inning. Schulz has 10 RBIs in 18 games this season.
 
Travis Washburn has started 10 straight games at second base. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in seven of the last eight games, including a career-high three hits with a double, one run scored, one walk and a steal at Louisiana Tech. He hit safely in two of three games at Texas State after picking up two hits in the series finale on Sunday. He hit safely in all three games of the Georgia State series. 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. He is hitting .286 (14-for-49) with a double, two triples, two RBIs, eight runs scored, three walks, nine strikeouts and three stolen bases.
 
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 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.
 
Matthew Lee started the final two games of the Texas State series after an injury to Logan Wurm on Friday. Lee picked up his first-career hit with a single to right field on Saturday. He made his ULM debut with a midweek start behind the plate against Grambling State on March 3. He worked his way on base twice and scored twice against Grambling.
 
Colby Deaville started in the first six games for ULM and has made one start over the last 14 games for the Warhawks. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has five hits on the season, with one coming on March 13 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 started the final two games of the weekend series at Texas State, filling Danny DeSimone's spot in the order. King had his first hit of the season on Saturday with a single to left field. The graduate transfer from Alabama started at first base on Saturday and designated hitter on Sunday. He has also made one relief pitching appearance for ULM, throwing the ninth inning against Louisiana Tech on March 9.
 
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 has a 2.12 ERA over 17 innings. He pitched four total innings over three outings on the week of March 8-14 and allowed just one of six inherited base runners to score, earning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honors. Carson Orton has a 3.21 ERA over 14 innings out of the bullpen. The Oklahoma City native earned his second save of the season on Friday at Texas State, facing just six batters over two innings. He 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 at Ole Miss before giving way to Lindsay to shut the game down. Wrobel has a 3.00 ERA over 9 innings. He allowed a run on one hit over 1 2/3 innings Sunday at Texas State.
 
Landon Longsworth matched the longest outing of his career on Saturday at Texas State, throwing four scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Longsworth has made seven appearances with an 0-1 record and a 3.94 ERA over 16 innings, posting 13 strikeouts to seven walks.