ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks open a five-game road swing on Tuesday night when they visit the Ragin' Cajuns for a midweek non-conference contest at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park in Lafayette. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

There is no television coverage for Tuesday's game. The game will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call.

Tuesday's game against the Ragin' Cajuns is the 150th all-time meeting between the schools, with the Cajuns leading the series, 96-53. The Ragin' Cajuns swept a three-game weekend series from ULM at Warhawk Field on April 1-3, winning 9-5, 5-2 and 11-9. It is the first time the two teams have met in a non-conference showdown since the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship in 2014, a 7-3 win for the Cajuns. It is the first midweek meeting between the two clubs since April 11, 2006, ULM's final year in the Southland Conference. The Cajuns have won five straight games against ULM.

ULM (17-19 overall, 5-10 Sun Belt Conference) has won four consecutive games and six of the last seven games overall after sweeping Southern over the weekend in a non-conference series, 12-1, 2-0 and 11-1 in seven innings. The Warhawks completed a stretch of eight games in nine days on Sunday with a doubleheader. ULM finished 6-2 in the eight-game stretch, which included a series win over Little Rock on April 17-19.

The Ragin' Cajuns (22-17 overall, 8-7 SBC) salvaged a game from the weekend series at Little Rock with a 7-4 win on Sunday after dropping the first two games of the series, 8-2 and 4-3 in 10 innings. The Cajuns have lost six of their last eight games overall. They are 5-3 in midweek contests this season and have won three straight midweek games, beating McNeese State, 4-3, on April 21, Nicholls State, 3-2 on April 6, and at Nicholls, 9-8 on March 16.

LEADING OFF

• Stevie Owings is scheduled to make his second start for ULM after earning his first career win in his first career start on Wednesday vs. Jackson State. Owings pitched a career-high five innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts. He had previously pitched 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen over five appearances. The Bixby, Oklahoma, native threw 80 pitches in last week's outing vs. JSU.

• Andrew Beesley has not played in the last four games for ULM. He has hit in the top third of the order for the Warhawks in 29 games this season. He has started 25 games at designated hitter with six starts, including three of his last four starts, at first base. He picked up a hit with a walk at LSU on April 20 in his last appearance. 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 April 17, Beesley started the final two games of the series, picking up an RBI single on April 18 and a pair of hits on April 19. The Natchez, Mississippi native is hitting .259 (30-for-116) with five doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 14 walks, 23 strikeouts and six stolen bases. His 14 bases on balls is third on the team and boosts his on base percentage to .353. 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 has started seven of the last eight games at designated hitter and hit in the cleanup spot. He has hit safely in four of his last five starts. He singled and scored two runs in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Southern. He also picked up an RBI single, scored twice and walked twice vs. Jackson State on Wednesday. The freshman from Birmingham, Alabama made his ULM debut on March 30 and has since played in 14 games with eight 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 7-for-33 at the plate with four RBIs, four runs scored, three walks and three sacrifice flies.

• Michael Cervantes had a streak of 23 consecutive starts on the left side of the infield snapped on April 18 vs. Little Rock and has not played in the last seven games. 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 14 starts at third base, eight starts at second base and seven starts at first base. He has seven games in which he has taken over duties at first base part way through the game. 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 .243 (27-for-111) with three home runs, 15 RBIs, 15 runs scored, eight walks, 33 strikeouts and four steals. 

• Ryan Cupit is one of the top reserves for ULM. Cupit has played in 21 games with three starts, hitting 3-for-18 with five runs scored and five walks. The West Monroe, Louisiana, native had a leadoff pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth inning in game one of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Southern. He scored on Travis Washburn's RBI single to double the Warhawk lead to 2-0. He came through with a walk and a run scored in the eighth inning vs. Jackson State on Wednesday. He entered the April 19 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 has started seven consecutive games for ULM at shortstop. He started in the first six games of the season and has made 10 starts over the last 27 games. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has 12 hits on the season after collecting an RBI double in game two of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Southern. He has four hits with three doubles, five RBIs and two runs scored over the last four games. He has earned six of his eight walks on the season over the last six games, including three at LSU on April 20. He was a key contributor in the walk-off win over Little Rock on April 19, 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 .245 (12-for-49) with six doubles, eight RBIs, eight runs scored, eight walks and three 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 17 runs in 23 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 third multi-hit game of the season in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Southern, coming through with two hits, including a double, while driving in a run and scoring once. 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 and has started twice in the last seven games. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.

• Trace Henry has started 12 consecutive games after returning from an injury at Alabama on April 7. 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 nine multi-hit games on the season after going for two hits in each of the midweek games last week. He added a walk at LSU on April 20 and picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly, walked, was hit by a pitch and scored a season-high three times on April 21 vs. Jackson State. He has reached base safely in 27 of 32 games this season. He is hitting .293 (34-for-116) with eight doubles, one triple, nine RBIs, 19 runs scored, 10 walks and 10 steals.

• Mason Holt hit his fourth home run of the season on April 19 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 22 RBIs, 31 runs scored, eight doubles, three triples, 14 steals and .459 slugging percentage all lead the team and he ranks second on the club with 41 hits and 16 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 12 multi-hit games and 15 extra-base hits on the season. He is hitting .281 (41-for-146) 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 .341 batting average (44-for-129), which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt Conference. He has hit safely in six straight games and has at least one RBI in five of the last six contests. The Stonewall, Manitoba native had his third three-hit game of the month and sixth of the season on Wednesday night vs. Jackson State, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored, a walk and two steals. Humeniuk was the hero for the Warhawks on April 19, 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 as ULM beat Little Rock, 5-4. 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, 20 RBIs, 22 runs scored, a team-best 18 walks, 27 strikeouts and 13 stolen bases. His .422 on base percentage leads the team. He has hit safely in 19 of the last 23 games, with six multi-hit games in that stretch. His 20 RBIs are second on the team.

• Carson Jones has played in three of the last four games for ULM as a late inning substitute. The freshman from West Monroe, Louisiana, made a sterling defensive play behind the second base bag after coming on in place of Travis Washburn. Jones has played in 15 games with two starts, at New Orleans and vs. Grambling State, while picking up two hits with two walks and three runs scored.

• Justin King made his fifth start in the field on Wednesday, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored while playing first base vs. Jackson State. King made his fourth appearance on the mound this season on Tuesday at LSU. The graduate transfer from Okotoks, Alberta pitched 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings against the Tigers, giving up a walk with two strikeouts. On April 10 at Georgia Southern, the southpaw 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 made his first three appearances in nearly three weeks, entering the game in the final innings at LSU, at home vs. Jackson State and again on Friday against Southern. He earned his second career hit with a solid single to center against JSU. He 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 has appeared in 13 games and started seven contests at catcher for ULM. He hit his first career home run on April 18 vs. Little Rock, 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 .308 (8-for-26) with two doubles, two RBIs, six runs, four walks and 10 strikeouts. McKay has a .419 on base percentage and .500 slugging percentage over 13 games this season.

• Grant Schulz has taken advantage of an opportunity to return to the lineup, earning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Hitter of the Week honors for April 20-25. Schulz has played in each of the last five games and started all three games of the Southern series, hitting 8-for-11 with a double, grand slam, seven RBIs, five runs scored, four walks and a stolen base. In game two of Sunday's doubleheader against Southern, Schulz went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. In the Friday's series opener against Southern, Schulz set a career-high with four hits, a double, an RBI, two runs scored and a steal. He has played a big role off the bench twice this season. On Wednesday against Jackson State, Schulz hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to extend ULM's lead to 16-3. On 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. He is hitting .277 (18-for-65) on the season with three doubles, two home runs, 17 RBIs, nine runs scored, 11 walks and three stolen bases.

• Travis Washburn has started 26 consecutive games with 25 starts at second base and one in right field. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in 20 of the last 24 games. Washburn is riding a seven-game hitting streak and has driven in at least one run in four straight games. He had two hits, including a double, with an RBI and two runs scored in the series opener vs. Southern on Friday. He picked up two hustle doubles on April 20 at LSU and drove in two runs with one of his two singles on April 21 vs. Jackson State. He had 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 nine multi-hit games this season. He has a .308 batting average (33-for-107) with seven doubles, two triples, one home run, nine RBIs, 18 runs scored, seven walks and four stolen bases.

• Logan Wurm had a solid offensive weekend vs. Southern. He had two hits, including an RBI double, with a run scored in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader. He also had a pair of hits in the series opener on Friday with three RBIs and a run scored. Wurm collected his first hit since April 10, a double, and added a walk with two runs scored against Jackson State on Wednesday. It was Wurm's first extra-base hit since March 16 against Oklahoma State, when 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 2.16 ERA over 25.0 innings with an 0-1 record and three saves. He has 20 strikeouts to five walks on the season. The Oklahoma City native has allowed just one run and one walk over his last 13 innings. He played a key role in the April 19 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. 

Lindsay has a 2-2 record with three saves and a 2.56 ERA over 31 2/3 innings. He has 21 strikeouts to eight walks on the season. The sophomore from Beckville, Texas has given up one run and no walks in the last 11 1/3 innings.  He posted his third save of the season in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Southern, throwing two scoreless innings with three hits and a strikeout to preserve the 2-0 shutout. He came out of the bullpen to record his second save of the season on April 18, 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 12 appearances with an 0-1 record and a 4.01 ERA over 24 2/3 innings, posting 19 strikeouts to 10 walks.

• Lucas Wepf has quietly earned a more trusted role out of the ULM bullpen. The junior from Georgetown, Ontario, is third among bullpen pitchers with a 3.27 ERA over 22.0 innings. He tossed two shutout innings with three strikeouts in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Southern. He has entered the game in the first inning twice the season and given the ULM offense a chance to rally each time. Against Little Rock on April 19, Wepf entered with ULM trailing 2-0 with one out in the first inning. He allowed just one inherited runner to score before firing 4 2/3 innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits with no walks and a strikeout, allowing the Warhawks to rally for the 5-4 win. On April 11 at Georgia Southern, Wepf entered with no outs in the first inning and pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up a run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts, again allowing ULM the opportunity to try and get back in the game.