MONROE, La. – Britt McKay hit his first-career home run and ULM took advantage of timely hits, walks and errors to scratch across a pair of 2-run innings to rally past Little Rock, 5-3, Sunday afternoon at Warhawk Field.
"We had four walks," ULM head coach
Michael Federico said. "We had two hit batsmen. We executed a first and third situation. We brought their infield in a couple of times to where we were able to get a ball through there. We did some of those things that we have to do. That's what we need our offense to understand is how good we can be when that happens. We scored five runs on five hits. But we made them make three errors and had four walks. We can do those things and win games that way."
Cam Barlow (4-4) earned his fourth win, firing 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Federico said the early strike zone forced an adjustment on their philosophy in approaching Little Rock's lineup.
"We ended up going in a little bit more with Cam than we normally do," Federico said. "He was missing on his arm side a little bit too much. I tip my cap to Cam because he just kind of navigated in a little bit of a different way than what our game plan was. He made a big adjustment. He scratched eight hits, but it never was a big inning other than the 2-run home run."
Trey Lindsay picked up his second save, throwing 3 2/3 shutout innings out of the bullpen on two hits with two strikeouts as the Warhawks (12-18 overall, 4-10 Sun Belt Conference) snapped a nine-game losing streak in Sun Belt Conference play. Lindsay came in with runners on first and second and one out in the sixth inning, but quickly retired the next two batters to retire the side.
"I've had success coming in with runners on base and kind of hard situations," Lindsay said. "It's one of those things where coach trusts me enough to put me in there and I believe in my stuff to go right at guys and do my best to get them out."
Lindsay says his changeup was working well on Sunday.
"It was coming out of the hand really good," Lindsay said. "I had a good feel for it in warm up pitches. We had some trouble because it had been a little too firm at times. I've been trying to work on that this past week and get it to slow down and add more depth."
Preseason Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Aaron Funk (1-4) suffered the loss for Little Rock (16-15, 7-4), allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits with one walk over three innings.
After Kobe Barnum hit a 2-run home run for Little Rock in the top of the second inning, McKay answered with his first-career homer in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit in half.
"Just to be able to answer back was really nice," Federico said. "Britt got a ball up in the air and the wind was blowing out. Sometimes just answering with one run is huge because you don't have to press so much. That was a big relief. It was great to see him have a good day with the bat and I thought he caught Barlow really well also."
"I didn't think it was out to be honest with you," McKay said. "I sprinted all the way to the shortstop and (Assistant) Coach (Matt) Collins had to tell me to slow down. I was looking for a pitch I could hit and maybe draw a walk or two just to help Cam out. It just so happened that I hit the ball that helped us chip away at the lead."
ULM took the lead in the third inning.
Colby Deaville led off the inning with a bloop single to rightfield.
Ryan Humeniuk followed with a walk.
Mason Holt then hit a chopper that snuck through the left side of the infield for an RBI single, plating Deaville to tie the game at 2.
Andrew Beesley hit into a fielder's choice, but a bad throw to first base on a double play attempt allowed Humeniuk to sprint home and claim the 3-2 lead on the second Trojan error of the game.
The Warhawks expanded the lead in the fifth inning. Humeniuk was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second when Holt walked. Beesley came through with an RBI single to center to score Humeniuk. Beesley and Holt then executed a delayed double steal that allowed Holt to swipe home for the 5-2 advantage.
Little Rock's Kenny Rodriguez hit a leadoff homer in the top of the sixth, but Lindsay shut the Trojans down the rest of the way.
The win marks just the second time ULM has won this season when trailing at the end of any inning, with the first coming at No. 4 Ole Miss on March 14.
"I think it gives us a lot of confidence," McKay said. "We know we can do it. We haven't been able to do it. I think it gives us that pat on the back to say y'all can do it."
The Warhawks and Trojans play the rubber match of the three-game series at 1 p.m. Monday at Warhawk Field. Links to live audio and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
