BOONE, N.C. – Ryan Cupit's 2-RBI double to the right field corner tied the game and Colby Deaville's sacrifice bunt scored Cupit for the lead as ULM scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to complete the rally and win, 10-7, Saturday afternoon at Appalachian State.
 
App State led 7-1 through five innings, but the Warhawks scratched across single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to get back within 7-4, setting up the huge ninth inning.
 
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish," ULM head coach Michael Federico said. "We talk about those things all the time. We score three runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth and we end up winning by three. Those are things that we talk about a lot."
 
The Warhawks started the comeback in the top of the sixth inning. Trace Henry opened the inning with a double to left center, his third hit and second double of the game. He moved to third on Mason Holt's groundout to second and scored on Andrew Beesley's groundout to first to make it 7-2.
 
In the seventh inning, Travis Washburn picked up a one-out infield single. He stole second base and then scored on Logan Wurm's pinch-hit RBI single to left to cut the deficit to 7-3.
 
ULM continued to chip away in the eighth inning. Henry hit a leadoff triple down the right field line for his fourth hit of the day and came home on Beesley's RBI single to center for to close within 7-4.
 
"A lot of times you don't realize what Coach is talking about and then games like yesterday and today, you really see where it comes into play," Henry said of the importance of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. "I think it was big for us to get those, even though it is just one run an inning. It gave us a chance there in the end. It just gave us a lot of confidence just to scratch in those couple innings late."
 
The Warhawks opened the ninth inning with Washburn's single to left. Landon Cato walked on four pitches and Wiley Cleland came on as a pinch runner. Wurm followed with a double to right to score Washburn and pull the Warhawks within 7-5. Cupit hit his own double down the right field line to score Cleland and Wurm to tie the game at 7.
 
"He threw the first pitch to Wurm and Wurm hit a double," Cupit said. "I was expecting a fastball down the middle and that's what I got."
 
After Henry reached on an error, Colby Deaville laid down a sacrifice bunt on the first base line. App State pitcher Noah Hall threw home, but Cupit beat the throw to give ULM an 8-7 lead. Schulz added an RBI single to plate Henry and Washburn's sacrifice fly scored Deaville for the 10-7 advantage.
 
Carson Orton came out of the bullpen and pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth with a strikeout for his fourth save. Tylor Jans (1-0) earned his first win at ULM after throwing a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts. Lucas Wepf fired 3 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen with three hits and three strikeouts as the Warhawk bullpen combined to throw 5 2/3 shutout innings, giving up three hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
 
"We used 14 position players today," Federico said. "A lot of guys did some small things that may go unnoticed. Grant Schulz goes from playing third to first and back to third. Colby Deaville had an unbelievable safety drag just to get us another run. I can't say enough about Cupit. The guy works every day. He makes our players better every day because of his work ethic and the things that he does. And then to have Orton come in there late to slam the door shut was awesome. And let's not forget about what Jans did, three-up, three-down. It's just a great team win. It's not like we draw it up, but at the same time, it's baseball, you've got to play until the end."
 
Henry finished 4-for-4 at the plate with four runs scored. Wurm came off the bench to go 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored. Washburn also had two hits with an RBI and two runs scored.
 
Cam Barlow struggled in his start, giving up seven runs, six earned, on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. App State starter Quinton Martinez threw 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Noah Hall (5-1) took the loss, pitching the ninth inning, allowing six runs, five earned, on four hits with two walks and one strikeout.
 
The Warhawks and Mountaineers play the rubber match of the series at 11 a.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Central Sunday.
 
"Tomorrow's a really big game," Henry said. "Today was a really big game for us. I think tomorrow is probably one of the biggest games of the year for us, trying to come out of here with a series win. That's the goal. If we can take two of three from this ballclub, I think we'll be sitting good rolling into next week. It's definitely a big game for us."
 
Links to live video, audio and stats are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.