ULM Warhawks

ULM (13-18 overall, 5-10 Sun Belt Conference) at LSU (21-14, 4-11 SEC)
Tuesday, April 20, 6:30 p.m. | Alex Box Stadium | Baton Rouge, La.
Tyler Lien, RS-Jr., LHP (3-1, 4.94 ERA) vs. Will Hellmers, Fr., RHP (5-1, 3.46 ERA)
Watch: SEC Network+ | Listen: 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com, TuneIn app | Live Stats

ULM vs. Jackson State (24-7, 18-0 SWAC)
Wednesday, April 21, 6 p.m. | Warhawk Field | Monroe, La.
TBA vs. TBA
Listen: 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com, TuneIn app | Live Stats

GAME NOTES

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks roll right into a pair of midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday, visiting LSU and hosting Jackson State. ULM and LSU clash at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Baton Rouge, while ULM makes up a postponed game against Jackson State at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Warhawk Field.

Tuesday's game will be televised on SEC Network+ with Lyn Rollins (play-by-play) and Ronnie Rantz (analyst) on the call. Wednesday's game will not be televised. Both games will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call.

Tuesday's game at LSU is the 46th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and the Tigers, with LSU leading the series, 40-5. LSU won the last meeting between the two schools, 12-7, in the 2019 season-opener on Feb. 15. LSU has won 13 consecutive games in the series, with ULM last picking up a win, 7-6, in Baton Rouge on Feb. 14, 2001.

Wednesday's game with Jackson State is the 13th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and JSU, with ULM leading the series 6-5-1. All 12 previous meetings have come since the 2011 season. ULM won the last meeting, 10-1, on March 27, 2019, in Monroe and has won back-to-back meetings. Jackson State won the last meeting in Jackson, Mississippi, 7-2, on Feb. 27, 2018.

ULM (13-18 overall, 5-10 Sun Belt Conference) is coming off a weather-delayed series win over Little Rock at Warhawk Field, winning 5-3 on Sunday before walking-off with a 5-4 win in 10 innings on Monday. Little Rock won the first game of the series, 2-0, on Saturday. Sunday's win snapped a nine-game Sun Belt Conference losing streak for ULM, while Sunday and Monday's wins mark just the second and third times this year the Warhawks have rallied for a victory. 

LSU (21-14, 4-11 SEC) dropped two out of three games over the weekend at No. 10 South Carolina, winning 5-1 on Thursday before falling in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader, 4-2 and 9-0. The Tigers are a perfect 8-0 in midweek games in 2021, last picking up a 14-1 win over McNeese State on April 6 in Baton Rouge.

Jackson State (24-7, 18-0 SWAC) continues to be one of the hottest teams in the country. The Tigers are 24-3 since starting the season 0-4 and moved to 18-0 in the SWAC with a weekend sweep of Alcorn State, 10-0, 6-4 and 11-0 at Braddy Field in Jackson. Jackson State is 3-4 in midweek contests, with two wins over Tougaloo College and a victory over Grambling State and losses to GSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tulane.

LEADING OFF

• Tyler Lien is scheduled for his first midweek start of 2021 on Tuesday at LSU. He made the start in the first seven series finales of the 2021 season. Lien did not record an out in his last start at Georgia Southern, giving up four runs, three earned on three hits vs. the Eagles on April 11. In his best start of the season, Lien carried a shutout into the seventh inning, pitching six innings and giving up three runs on six hits with three strikeouts against Georgia State on March 21.

• Andrew Beesley has hit in the top third of the order for the Warhawks in 29 of 31 games this season. He has started 25 games at designated hitter with five starts, including the last two games, at first base. Beesley's three hits vs. Little Rock led the team in the series against the Trojans, despite just starting two of the three games. After a pinch-hit appearance on Saturday, Beesley started the final two games of the series, picking up an RBI single on Sunday and a pair of hits on Monday. The Natchez, Mississippi native is hitting .257 (29-for-113) with five doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 13 walks, 22 strikeouts and six stolen bases. His 13 bases on balls is tied for second on the team and boosts his on base percentage to .349. He has eight multi-hit games on the season. A second-year senior, Beesley was selected to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team as a utility player.

• Landon Cato started all three games of the series against Little Rock at designated hitter and hit in the cleanup spot, picking up a hit in the series finale on Monday. The freshman from Birmingham, Alabama made his ULM debut on March 30 and has since played in nine games with four starts. He made his first appearance at Grambling State, hitting a pair of sacrifice flies. He came through with a pinch-hit single on April 1 vs. the Ragin' Cajuns and was hit by a pitch in a pinch-hitting appearance on April 2. In his first career start on April 3, he went 1-for-3 with another sacrifice fly and his third RBI of the week. In two pinch-hitting appearances at Georgia Southern, Cato went 1-for-2. He is 4-for-17 at the plate with three RBIs, six strikeouts and three sacrifice flies.

• Michael Cervantes had a streak of 23 consecutive starts on the left side of the infield snapped on Sunday vs. Little Rock. He has 20 starts at shortstop and three at third base, and has hit safely in 18 of his 23 starts. He hit a key 2-RBI single in the top of the eighth inning on April 7 at Alabama and had two hits on April 10 at Georgia Southern. He hit his first-career home run, a 3-run blast, on March 27 at Texas State. He is hitting .299 (23-for-77) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, nine RBIs, 10 runs, six walks, 27 strikeouts and three stolen bases. Cervantes made just two appearances in the first six games of the season, registering one at bat, before taking over a starting role.

• Wiley Cleland has been a true utility player in the ULM infield this season. The Columbia, Mississippi native has made 12 starts at third base, eight starts at second base and five starts at first base. After picking up nine RBIs in the first five games of the season, he then went without an RBI in 13 consecutive appearances until picking up an RBI single at Grambling State on March 30. He has hit a pair of home runs in the month of April, hitting a 2-run blast vs. the Ragin' Cajuns on April 1 and a solo shot at Georgia Southern on April 11. He had his third three-hit game on April 7 at Alabama. He is hitting .263 (26-for-99) with three home runs, 14 RBIs, 12 runs scored, six walks, 31 strikeouts and two steals. 

• Ryan Cupit is one of the top reserves for ULM. Cupit has played in 17 games with three starts, hitting 2-for-16 with three runs scored and four walks. He entered Monday's game vs. Little Rock as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning, laying down a sacrifice bunt to move Andrew Beesley to second base. Cupit made three consecutive starts when Trace Henry was out with an injury on March 30, April 1 and April 2. He collected hits at Texas State on March 27 and vs. the Ragin' Cajuns on April 1.

• Colby Deaville started in the first six games for ULM and has made five starts over the last 25 games, including the final two games of the series vs. Little Rock. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has eight hits on the season after picking up a bloop single to right field on Sunday vs. Little Rock. He was a key contributor in Monday's walk-off win over the Trojans, hitting a sacrifice fly in the second inning and battling back from an 0-2 count against Little Rock closer Aaron Barkley for a two-out walk in the 10th inning, setting up Ryan Humeniuk's game-winning RBI double. He doubled in three straight games, including the final two games of the New Orleans series and the midweek game vs. Grambling on March 3. He is hitting .229 (8-for-35) with three doubles, three RBIs, six runs scored, three walks and two stolen bases in 2021.

• Danny DeSimone returned to the lineup after missing six games in the April 7 win at Alabama. On the first pitch he saw in the top of the first inning, DeSimone belted a 3-run home run to left to give ULM a 3-0 lead. DeSimone has driven in 16 runs in 19 games to rank second on the team. He also hit 3-run home runs at No. 23 Louisiana Tech on March 23 and in the series finale vs. Georgia State on March 21. He had his second multi-hit game of the season in the series-opener at Georgia Southern on April 9, picking up two singles with a run scored and a walk. 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 has missed 11 games this season due to injury. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.

• Trace Henry returned to the lineup after a four-game absence at Alabama on April 7 and has started seven consecutive games. He extended his career-long hitting streak to 11 games and reached base streak to 21 games before both were snapped in the April 11 series finale at Georgia Southern. He has seven multi-hit games on the season, with the last coming on April 9 at Georgia Southern. He has reached base safely in 23 of 27 games this season. He is hitting .280 (28-for-100) on the season with eight doubles, eight RBIs, 14 runs, eight walks, nine steals and 15 strikeouts. 

• Mason Holt hit his fourth home run of the season on Monday vs. Little Rock, a 2-run blast to left field in the bottom of the first inning. Holt's homer helped ULM answer Little Rock's 3-run top of the first inning and tied him for the team lead with Danny DeSimone. His 18 RBIs, 26 runs scored, seven doubles, three triples, 14 steals and .484 slugging percentage all lead the team and he ranks second on the club with 36 hits and 13 walks. He drove in four of ULM's five runs in the weekend series at Georgia Southern, including a bases-clearing 3-RBI double on April 9. Holt had three hits vs. the Ragin' Cajuns, including a double, two RBIs and a run scored on April 3. He has 14 extra-base hits on the season. He is hitting .286 (36-for-126) on the season. The Coppell, Texas native had a hot start to the season for ULM, hitting .526 (10-for-19) over the first five contests.

• Ryan Humeniuk has charged into the team lead with a .330 batting average (37-for-112). The Stonewall, Manitoba native was the hero for the Warhawks on Monday, hitting a two-out RBI double to right center in the 10th inning to score Colby Deaville and give ULM its first walk-off win of the season. He also drew three walks and was hit by a pitch to go along with his two hits in the weekend series vs. Little Rock. He had his fifth three-hit game of the season and second of the four-game road trip on April 11 at Georgia Southern, going 3-for-3 with an infield single. He had three hits with a triple, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base on April 7 at Alabama. He has five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 15 RBIs, 19 runs scored, a team-best 15 walks, 26 strikeouts and nine stolen bases. His .405 on base percentage leads the team. He has hit safely in 14 of the last 18 games, with five multi-hit games in that stretch. His 15 RBIs are third on the team.

• Justin King made his third appearance on the mound this season on April 10 at Georgia Southern. The graduate transfer from Okotoks, Alberta pitched through the rain in the eighth inning to retire the Eagles in order with a pair of strikeouts. He made a pinch hitting appearance on April 11, but struck out. He 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 March 27 with a single to left field. He started at first base on March 27 and designated hitter on March 28. He has also made two other relief pitching appearances for ULM, throwing the ninth inning against Louisiana Tech on March 9 and tossing a scoreless inning against Grambling on March 30.

• Matthew Lee started the final two games of the Texas State series after an injury to Logan Wurm on March 26. Lee picked up his first-career hit with a single to right field on March 27. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native started the April 1 game vs. the Ragin' Cajuns before Britt McKay started the final two games of the series. He made his ULM debut with a midweek start behind the plate against Grambling State on March 3.

• Britt McKay made his fifth start of the season on Sunday vs. Little Rock and hit his first career home run, a solo shot to right field, in the bottom of the second inning, sparking ULM's comeback in a 5-3 win. McKay started the April 11 series finale at Georgia Southern and hit in the cleanup spot, going two-for-three at the plate. He started three of four games behind the plate following an injury to starting catcher Logan Wurm at Texas State, making a start at Grambling State and two more vs. the Ragin' Cajuns. The McHenry, Mississippi native is hitting .350 (7-for-20) with two doubles, two RBIs, five runs, three walks and seven strikeouts. McKay has a .458 on base percentage and .600 slugging percentage over 11 games this season.

• Grant Schulz played a big role off the bench March 26 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 21 games this season.

• Travis Washburn has started 21 consecutive games with 20 starts at second base and one in right field. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in 15 of the last 19 games, including a career-high three hits with a double, one run scored, one walk and a steal at Louisiana Tech on March 30. He also had three hits in the series finale vs. the Ragin' Cajuns on April 3 with two runs scored. Washburn has four of his five multi-hit games since March 23. In four games from March 30 to April 3, Washburn was 7-for-16 at the plate with two doubles, an inside-the-park home run, two RBIs, five runs scored, a walk and four strikeouts. He has a .275 batting average (25-for-91) with three doubles, two triples, one home run, four RBIs, 14 runs scored, six walks, 20 strikeouts and four stolen bases.

• Logan Wurm returned to the ULM lineup after missing six games on April 7 at Alabama. He had been out of the ULM lineup since suffering an injury on March 26 at Texas State. He picked up a hit on April 10 against Georgia Southern. He 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. Coach Michael Federico says Wurm is considered the best bunter on the team.

• Trey Lindsay and Carson Orton have been two of the top options out of the bullpen for ULM head coach Michael Federico. Orton leads the bullpen arms with a 2.25 ERA over 24.0 innings with an 0-1 record and three saves. He played a key role in Monday's walk-off win over Little Rock, throwing four shutout innings out of the bullpen, giving up just two hits with no walks and three strikeouts. On April 11 at Georgia Southern, he threw 3 2/3 shutout innings out of the bullpen, giving up three hits with two strikeouts. The Oklahoma City native has allowed just one run and no walks over his last 12 innings. Lindsay has a 2-2 record with two saves and a 2.83 ERA over 28 2/3 innings. He has 19 strikeouts to eight walks on the season. He came out of the bullpen to record his second save of the season on Sunday, tossing the final 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Lindsay threw three shutout innings on April 7 at Alabama, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts. He pitched 2 2/3 innings over two appearances at Georgia Southern, allowing one run on three hits with a strikeout. 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. 

• Landon Longsworth matched the longest outing of his career on March 27 at Texas State, throwing four scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. He threw the final two innings of the game on Saturday vs. Little Rock and did not allow a run with just one hit, no walks and two strikeouts. Longsworth has made 11 appearances with an 0-1 record and a 3.80 ERA over 23 2/3 innings, posting 18 strikeouts to 10 walks.