ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks play the middle stretch of a five-game road swing this weekend when they visit App State. First pitch is at 4 p.m. CDT on Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday at Beaver Field and Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone, North Carolina.

All three games of this weekend's series will be televised on ESPN+. Friday's game will air exclusively on KMLB.com and the TuneIn app, while Saturday and Sunday's games will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app. Mike Hammett will have the call for all three games.

Friday's series opener against App State marks the 12th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Mountaineers leading the series, 7-4. ULM lost both games in the weather-shortened series in 2019, falling 3-2 and 10-8 in Boone. App won two out of three games at Warhawk Field in 2018, with ULM winning the middle game of the series, 5-0, on April 21. ULM is 1-4 all-time in games in Boone, taking the series finale 10-2 over the Mountaineers on March 22, 2015. 

ULM (18-19 overall, 5-10 Sun Belt Conference) has won five consecutive games and seven of its last eight games overall after knocking off the Ragin' Cajuns, 7-6, in Lafayette on Tuesday. While the two schools are Sun Belt Conference rivals, the game was a non-conference contest. Mason Holt belted a 2-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to put ULM on top for good. The Warhawks swept Southern over the weekend in a non-conference series, 12-1, 2-0 and 11-1 in seven innings, and started the winning streak with an 18-6 win over Jackson State on April 21 at Warhawk Field.

App State (15-21 overall, 6-6 SBC) enters the weekend on a five-game losing streak after dropping a midweek home game to NC State, 7-3, on Tuesday. The Mountaineers were swept at Troy over the weekend, losing 2-0 on Friday before dropping both ends of Sunday's doubleheader, 9-4 and 12-2 in seven innings. However, the Mountaineers have won three of their last four weekend series. 

LEADING OFF

• Ty Barnes is in line for his ninth start this season and his fifth consecutive series opening nod. The second-year senior from Petal, Mississippi, is 2-3 with a 4.07 ERA over 42 innings, posting 37 strikeouts to five walks. Barnes fired six shutout innings on April 23 against Southern, allowing just two hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He took a tough-luck loss in his previous start vs. Little Rock, giving up a pair of solo home runs among seven hits with one walk and a season-best seven strikeouts over a season-high matching seven innings in a 2-0 loss. Barnes has walked just one batter over his last three starts, covering 18 1/3 innings.

• Cam Barlow is slated for his 10th start of the season on Saturday at App State. The third-year freshman from Halls, Tennessee has taken the decision in all nine of his starts, going 5-4 with a 4.15 ERA over 43 1/3 innings with 45 strikeouts to 12 walks. The left hander threw a career-high seven shutout innings in game one of the April 25 doubleheader vs. Southern, scattering five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Barlow also picked up the win two weeks ago against Little Rock on April 18, giving up three runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

• Head coach Michael Federico has not yet announced a starting pitcher for Sunday's series finale. Junior left hander Tyler Lien started the first seven series finales for ULM this season and has a 3-2 record with a 4.75 ERA over 30 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts to five walks. Freshman right hander Cole Cressend started the series finale vs. Little Rock but threw just 1/3 of an inning. Senior left hander Cole Martin earned the first weekend start of his career in the second game of the April 25 doubleheader vs. Southern and picked up the win, throwing five innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

• Andrew Beesley has not played in the last five 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 nine 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 the April 25 doubleheader vs. Southern. He also picked up an RBI single, scored twice and walked twice vs. Jackson State on April 21. 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 seven of the last eight games. He made a pinch hitting appearance in the ninth inning at the Ragin' Cajuns on Tuesday. 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 .295 (23-for-78) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, nine RBIs, 10 runs, six walks, 28 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, seven starts at first base and one at designated hitter. He has seven games in which he has taken over duties at first base part way through the game. He tallied two hits on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. 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 .252 (29-for-115) with three home runs, 15 RBIs, 15 runs scored, eight walks and four steals. 

• Ryan Cupit is one of the top reserves for ULM. Cupit has played in 22 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 eight consecutive games for ULM at shortstop. He started in the first six games of the season and has made 11 starts over the last 28 games. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has 12 hits on the season after collecting an RBI double in game two of the April 25 doubleheader vs. Southern. He has four hits with three doubles, five RBIs and two runs scored over the last four games. He has earned seven of his nine walks on the season over the last seven 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 .235 (12-for-51) with six doubles, eight RBIs, nine runs scored, nine 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 three times in the last eight games. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.

• Trace Henry has started 13 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 10 multi-hit games on the season after going for two hits in each of the last three midweek games, including a pair of hits with a double and two runs scored Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. 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 28 of 33 games this season. He is hitting .300 (36-for-120) with nine doubles, one triple, nine RBIs, 21 runs scored, 11 walks and 10 steals.

• Mason Holt connected on his fifth home run of the season, a 2-run shot to right field, in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns, giving ULM a 7-5 lead as they went on to the 7-6 win. Holt finished with two hits and four RBIs after hitting a 2-RBI bloop single to left in the four-run fifth inning. His five homers, 26 RBIs, 32 runs scored, three triples, 15 steals and .477 slugging percentage all lead the team and he ranks second on the club with 43 hits and 16 walks. He has 13 multi-hit games and 16 extra-base hits on the season. He is hitting .285 (43-for-151) 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 .328 batting average (44-for-134). He had a season-best six game hitting streak come to an end on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. Humeniuk has at least one RBI five of the last seven games. The Stonewall, Manitoba native had his third three-hit game of the month and sixth of the season on April 21 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 has five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 20 RBIs, 22 runs scored, a team-best 18 walks and 13 stolen bases. His .409 on base percentage leads the team. He has hit safely in 19 of the last 24 games, with six multi-hit games in that stretch. His 20 RBIs are second on the team.

• Carson Jones has played in four of the last five 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 16 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 April 21, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored while playing first base vs. Jackson State. King made his fifth appearance on the mound this season on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. The graduate transfer from Okotoks, Alberta has pitched five innings, giving up five runs on three hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings at LSU, 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 four appearances in nearly three weeks, entering the game in the final innings at LSU, at home vs. Jackson State, again on April 23 against Southern and caught an inning on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. 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 14 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 six games and started each of the last four contests. He continued his torrid stretch with three more hits on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns, hitting a triple and scoring once. He won the pair of awards by hitting 8-for-11 with a double, grand slam, seven RBIs, five runs scored, four walks and a stolen base over five games. 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 is hitting .304 (21-for-69) on the season with three doubles, one triple, two home runs, 17 RBIs, 10 runs scored, 11 walks and three stolen bases.

• Travis Washburn has started 27 consecutive games with 26 starts at second base and one in right field. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in a season-high eight consecutive games and in 21 of the last 25 games. He has driven in at least one run in four of the last five games. He had two hits, including a double, with an RBI and two runs scored in the series opener vs. Southern on April 23. 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 seven of his eight 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 .309 batting average (33-for-107) with seven doubles, two triples, one home run, nine RBIs, 19 runs scored, eight 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 the April 25 doubleheader. He also had a pair of hits in the series opener on April 23 with three RBIs and a run scored. He picked up a single with a run scored and had two sacrifice bunts on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. Wurm collected his first hit since April 10, a double, and added a walk with two runs scored against Jackson State on April 21. 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 2.45 ERA over 25 2/3 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 two runs and one walk over his last 13 2/3 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 the April 25 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 vs. Little Rock, 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 earned his first win of the 2021 season on Tuesday at the Ragin' Cajuns. He came out of the bullpen in the seventh inning and threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing a run on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts. He 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 April 17 vs. Little Rock and did not allow a run with just one hit, no walks and two strikeouts. Longsworth has made 13 appearances with a 1-1 record and a 4.00 ERA over 27 innings, posting 21 strikeouts to 13 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 3.18 ERA over 22 2/3 innings. He picked up his third save of the season and second consecutive save by recording the final two outs of Tuesday's game at the Ragin' Cajuns, walking one batter and striking out two. He tossed two shutout innings with three strikeouts in the second game of the April 25 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. He has 25 strikeouts to seven walks this season.