ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks open the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship against Georgia State at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama. The Warhawks are the third seed from the West Division while the Panthers are the fifth seed from the East Division. The two teams are joined in Pool B by Georgia Southern, the second seed from the East Division. 

Every game of the Sun Belt Conference Championship will be carried on ESPN+ with Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and John Gregory (analyst) on the call. All ULM games can also be heard on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call.

Tuesday's game is the 22nd all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Panthers with ULM leading the series, 13-8. The Warhawks have won eight of the last nine meetings with Georgia State, including winning two of three games this season. GSU won the first game of the series, 4-3, on March 19 before ULM took the final two games of the series, 3-1 on March 20 and 9-7 on March 21. Tuesday's meeting in Montgomery is the first-ever match-up between the teams in the Sun Belt Conference Championship.

ULM (26-24 overall, 11-13 Sun Belt Conference) won its final six weekend series of the season, sweeping Southern and winning two-out-of-three games against Little Rock, Appalachian State, UT Arlington, No. 6 TCU and Arkansas State. ULM's third-place finish in the West Division of the SBC marks the Warhawks highest finish in the standings since placing fifth overall in 2012. The Warhawks won 15 of its final 21 games of the regular season, going 8-3 in the SBC over that span. ULM claimed the third seed by winning the final two games of the A-State series, 10-7 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday. 

Georgia State (17-36 overall, 12-12 Sun Belt Conference) enters the SBC Championship as one of the hottest teams in the field, winning five of their final six games, all against cross-division opponents. The Panthers swept Texas State on May 14-15 in San Marcos before bouncing back to win the final two games of the regular season against Little Rock, 5-0 and 11-10, after dropping the series opener to the Trojans, 7-3. GSU is playing in its first Sun Belt Championship since 2018, when it lost a first-round game to Little Rock, 2-1.

Tuesday's game marks ULM's fifth all-time appearance in the SBC Championship. ULM appeared in the last SBC Championship in 2019, qualifying as the 10th-and-final seed before advancing to the semifinals. The Warhawks went 1-2 in the 2014 tournament, won the SBC Championship in 2012 over Arkansas State, went 4-1 in the 2009 championship and 1-2 in 2008 after winning the regular season championship.

LEADING OFF

• Ty Barnes is slated to make his first start since May 7 on Tuesday afternoon against Georgia State. The senior right-hander from Petal, Mississippi is 2-5 this season with a 4.65 ERA over 50 1/3 innings, allowing 27 runs, 26 earned, on 47 hits with 44 strikeouts to 10 walks. He has served as ULM's series-opening starting pitcher eight times this season. Barnes turned in one of his best outings of the year against Georgia State on March 20, one of his two non-series opening starts, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Griffin Cheney broke it up with a solo home run. Barnes allowed just the one run and one hit with one walk and five strikeouts over seven innings to earn his first win.

• Andrew Beesley returned to the starting lineup for the series at Arkansas State. He hit his first home run of the season, a 2-run shot, on Thursday night. He added a hit and two RBIs on Friday before walking twice with a sacrifice fly and an RBI on Saturday. He served as a pinch-hitter at No. 6 TCU, coming through with a 2-RBI double in the sixth inning in game one of the May 15 doubleheader. He has been a mainstay at the top of the order for ULM for three seasons. He has hit in the top third of the order for the Warhawks in 34 of his 43 games this season. He has started 29 games at designated hitter with nine starts at first base. The Natchez, Mississippi native is hitting .257 (37-for-144) with six doubles, one triple, one home run, 22 RBIs, 22 runs scored, 21 walks, 23 strikeouts and seven stolen bases. His 21 bases on balls is tied for second on the team and boosts his on base percentage to .361. He has nine 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 13 games at designated hitter. He has hit safely in eight of his last 11 starts after collecting his second multi-hit game of his career in game one of the May 15 doubleheader at No. 6 TCU. Cato picked up an RBI single, scored twice and was hit by a pitch in the game. At App State, Cato had two hits on May 2 for his first career multi-hit game while adding his first stolen base. The freshman from Birmingham, Alabama made his ULM debut on March 30 and has since played in 22 games with 14 starts. He made his first appearance at Grambling State, hitting a pair of sacrifice flies. He is hitting .245 (13-for-53) with five RBIs, seven runs scored, five walks and three sacrifice flies.

• Michael Cervantes had a string of six consecutive starts snapped Friday at Arkansas State. He had his first two career starts at second base in both ends of the May 15 doubleheader at No. 6 TCU. In the first game of the twin bill, he hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning and then added an RBI groundout in the second inning. He has 21 starts at shortstop, seven at third base and two at second base. He connected on a 2-RBI double in the three-run third inning in game two of the May 8 doubleheader vs. UTA. He hit a key 2-RBI single in the top of the eighth inning on April 7 at Alabama, which proved to be the game-winning hit. He hit his first-career home run, a 3-run blast, on March 27 at Texas State. He is hitting .274 (26-for-95) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, 13 RBIs, 11 runs, seven walks and three stolen bases.

• 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, 12 starts at first base, eight starts at second base and one at designated hitter. He has 10 games in which he has taken over duties at first base part way through the game. He 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 of the season on April 7 at Alabama. He is hitting .228 (31-for-136) with one double, three home runs, 16 RBIs, 16 runs scored, nine walks and five steals.

• Ryan Cupit is one of the top reserves for ULM. Cupit has played in 34 games with three starts, hitting 7-for-32 with a double, 3 RBIs, eight runs scored and six walks. The West Monroe, Louisiana, native has stepped to the plate in 12 consecutive games entering the SBC Championhip. He pinch hit in all three games of the series at Arkansas State, going 1-for-4 with a base hit and stolen base on Saturday. He picked up a pinch-hit RBI single in the second game of the May 8 doubleheader vs. UT Arlington. He hit the game-tying 2-RBI double in the top of the ninth inning on May 1 at App State. Cupit made three consecutive starts when Trace Henry was out with an injury on March 30, April 1 and April 2. He has collected five hits as a pinch hitter this season.

• Colby Deaville has started 19 of the last 20 games for ULM at shortstop. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has 22 hits on the season. He extended his career-long hitting streak to six games with a single on Thursday at Arkansas State before going 0-for-3 with a walk on Friday. He earned an RBI in all three games of the App State series, despite coming off the bench in the second game of the series. Over the last 18 games, he has 14 hits, three doubles, 10 of his 13 RBIs, nine runs and six walks. 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 is hitting .239 (22-for-92) with six doubles, 13 RBIs, 15 runs scored, 12 walks and four stolen bases in 2021.

• Danny DeSimone has battled injuries throughout the 2021 season. He has played in 30 games with 22 starts. He has hit three 3-run home runs, connecting on the first pitch of his at bat in the first inning at Alabama on April 7. 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 the April 25 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 started four times in the last 17 games. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.

• Trace Henry has been on a tear since April 18. The junior from Mooreville, Mississippi, has hit safely in 16 of the last 19 games, including seven multi-hit games. He is hitting .342 (27-for-79) in that span with eight doubles, one triple, four RBIs, 25 runs scored, 12 walks and eight stolen bases. He has hit safely in each of the last eight games. He had two hits in the second game of the May 8 doubleheader vs. UT Arlington, scored twice, walked once and stole two bases. He was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Hitter of the Week for April 26-May 2 after going 10-for-16 at the plate with three doubles, one triple, two RBIs, seven runs scored, three walks and two sacrifice bunts in four games. He has started 25 consecutive games after returning from an injury at Alabama on April 7. He has 14 multi-hit games on the season. He has reached base safely in 40 of 46 games this season. He is hitting .320 (55-for-172) with 16 doubles, two triples, 12 RBIs, 39 runs scored, 19 walks and 16 steals. He leads the team in doubles.

• Mason Holt continues as one of ULM's top offensive threats. He picked up three hits, including an RBI and two runs scored on Friday at Arkansas State. He swiped a base in each game in Jonesboro to give him 21 for the season. He had a big weekend series at No. 6 TCU. He had two hits, including a two-out, 2-RBI single in the fifth inning on May 14 along with a 2-RBI triple and 2-RBI double in game one of the May 15 doubleheader. He finished with four hits, a double, triple, six RBIs, four runs and four walks in the series. He connected on his fifth home run of the season, a 2-run shot to right field, in the top of the ninth inning on April 27 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 54 hits (tied for lead), five homers, 36 RBIs, 44 runs scored, four triples, 21 steals and 30 walks all lead the team, and he ranks second on the club with 11 doubles. He has 17 multi-hit games and 20 extra-base hits on the season. He is hitting .277 (54-for-195) on the season.

• Ryan Humeniuk has started every possible game in his ULM career. The Stonewall, Manitoba native had five hits in the TCU series, all in the May 15 doubleheader. He had three hits and three runs scored in the first game of the twin bill vs. the No. 6 Horned Frogs and added two hits with a double and two RBIs in the nightcap. He hit a pair of home runs in the App State series, hitting a 2-run shot in the May 2 series finale and a 3-run blast in the April 30 series-opener. 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 has eight doubles, one triple, four home runs, 28 RBIs, 32 runs scored, 21 walks and 14 stolen bases. His 28 RBIs rank second on the team.

• Carson Jones has mainly served as a late inning defensive substitute. The freshman from West Monroe, Louisiana has played in 21 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 is ULM's only two-way player in 2021. He 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 eighth appearance on the mound this season on Saturday at Arkansas State, allowing no runs with one hit and hit one batter in 1/3 of an inning. On May 5 at Jackson State he threw a season-high 2 1/3 shutout innings with one hit, one walk and a season-best four strikeouts. The graduate transfer from Okotoks, Alberta has pitched 9 2/3 innings, giving up nine runs, five earned, on 10 hits with seven walks and 12 strikeouts. He was in the lineup 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.

• Matthew Lee has played in 15 games as a backup catcher. He collected his third hit of the season on Thursday at Arkansas State. 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 20 games and started 11 contests at catcher for ULM.  He had two hits in game two of the May 15 doubleheader at No. 6 TCU, picking up an RBI with his first stolen base. 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. 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 .270 (10-for-37) with two doubles, three RBIs, six runs and seven walks. McKay has a .413 on base percentage and .405 slugging percentage.

• Chris Noble has seen more playing time late in the season. The sophomore from Shreveport, Louisiana has started three of the last four games and provided a power bat to the Warhawk order. Noble has played in 11 games with four starts and is hitting 7-for-16 with three home runs, one double, seven RBIs, six runs scored and three walks. Noble has hit safely in four consecutive games. He entered Thursday night's game at Arkansas State as a pinch hitter and connected for a 3-run home run. He earned the start on Friday and belted a 2-run home run to help jump start the ULM offense. He added an RBI single in Sunday's series finale to go 3-for-6 at the plate with two homers and six RBIs vs. A-State.

• Grant Schulz has been on fire since returning to the lineup after a 17-day hiatus on April 20. Schulz is hitting a team-best .455 (30-for-66) since April 18 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 17 RBIs, 16 runs scored, five walks and two stolen bases. He leads the team with a .500 on-base percentage and .697 slugging percentage in that stretch. In that span, Schulz has raised his batting average from .185 to now lead the team at .328. He has hit safely in seven of the last eight games with five multi-hit games in that stretch. He had two hits, including a 2-RBI single and a double, on Saturday at Arkansas State. He hit a double and scored a run in the series opener on May 14 at No. 6 TCU before adding two hits in each end of the May 15 doubleheader, including three RBIs. On May 8, Schulz had a monstrous doubleheader vs. UT Arlington. Schulz had seven hits on the day, including three doubles and one home run while driving in three runs and scoring five times. He had three hits with a double and two-run home run in the first game before posting his second four-hit day of the season with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored in the nightcap. He earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Hitter of the Week honors for April 20-25. 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 from April 20-25. In game two of the April 25 doubleheader against Southern, Schulz went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. In the April 23 series opener against Southern, Schulz set a career-high with four hits, a double, an RBI, two runs scored and a steal. On April 21 against Jackson State, Schulz hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to extend ULM's lead to 16-3. He is hitting .333 (40-for-120) on the season with 10 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 27 RBIs, 20 runs scored, 12 walks and four stolen bases.

• Travis Washburn hit safely in all three games at Arkansas State, including a two-hit day in Saturday's series finale. He had a streak of 35 consecutive starts snapped when he was a late scratch from the lineup ahead of the May 15 doubleheader at No. 6 TCU. He has 39 starts on the season with 38 starts at second base and one in right field. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in 16 of the last 19 games.  He has picked up 12 of his 16 RBIs on the season since April 21. Since April 18, Washburn is third on the team with a .382 batting average (26-for-68), with five doubles, one home run, 12 RBIs, 15 runs, five walks and five stolen bases. He picked up two hits with a double and a run scored in game two of the May 8 doubleheader vs. UT Arlington. He opened the series with two hits, a walk, a run scored and a stolen base on May 7 vs. UTA. He collected a career-high four hits, including a home run, with a career-high three RBIs and three runs scored on May 2 at App State. Washburn has eight of his 13 multi-hit games since April 21. He has a .325 batting average (49-for-151) with eight doubles, two triples, two home runs, 16 RBIs, 28 runs scored, 11 walks and nine stolen bases.

• Logan Wurm's late season offensive surge continued at Arkansas State. He has collected 19 of his 31 hits since April 21. Since April 18, Wurm is second on the team in batting average at .388 (19-for-49) with five doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs, 10 runs scored and one walk. He hit the second and third home runs of his career against No. 6 TCU. On May 14, Wurm hit a solo home run to give ULM the early lead before adding an RBI double in the sixth inning. On May 15, Wurm belted a 2-run home run to help the Warhawks pull away in a 13-9 win. He came off the bench on May 1 at App State to go 2-for-2 at the plate with a double, two RBIs and scored the game-tying run on Ryan Cupit's 2-RBI double in the ninth inning to complete a six-run come back. He closed out the series on May 2 with another double and three RBIs, marking the third time this season Wurm has picked up three RBIs in a game. The second-year senior from Marysville, California had a big game on March 16 vs. Oklahoma State at Globe Life Field, as he 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. Coach Michael Federico says Wurm is considered the best bunter on the team. Wurm is hitting .279 (31-for-111) with eight doubles, three home runs, 24 RBIs, 12 runs and four walks.

• Three bullpen pitchers have compiled a sub-3.00 ERA this season, giving head coach Michael Federico plenty of reliable options.

Lucas Wepf has become one of the more dependable arms in the ULM bullpen. The junior from Georgetown, Ontario, leads bullpen pitchers with a 2.43 ERA over 33 1/3 innings. Wepf has allowed just one earned run over his last seven appearances and 18 innings (0.50 ERA). He earned his second win on Friday, coming out of the bullpen with the Warhawks trailing 5-0 in the fourth inning. He proceeded to fire four innings, allowing an unearned run on two hits with no walks and a career-high six strikeouts as the Warhawks rallied for the 10-7 victory at Arkansas State. He picked up his first collegiate win in game one of the May 15 doubleheader at No. 6 TCU, coming out of the bullpen to throw 2 1/3 innings, allowing a run on one hit with four walks and two strikeouts. He played a key role in the May 1 10-7 win at App State. With ULM trailing 7-1, Wepf entered the game in relief of starting pitcher Cam Barlow and proceeded to quiet the Mountaineer offense. Wepf threw 3 2/3 shutout innings, giving up just three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He picked up his third save of the season and second consecutive save by recording the final two outs of the April 27 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 36 strikeouts to 12 walks this season.

Carson Orton has compiled a 2.67 ERA over 33 2/3 innings with an 0-1 record and team-high nine saves, which is one away from tying the single-season school record. He has 24 strikeouts to eight walks on the season. He notched saves in each of the final two games at Arkansas State, throwing a scoreless inning with one hit on Friday and two scoreless innings with one hit and two strikeouts on Saturday. Orton stranded three inherited runners in his two appearances at A-State. He recorded a save in the third consecutive game for ULM on May 14 at No. 6 TCU. He entered the game with one out in the ninth inning with the Warhawks working on a combined no-hitter. While he surrendered the first hit of the game with two outs, ULM earned the final out on the play to give Orton his seventh save. He recorded the save in both ends of the May 8 doubleheader vs. UT Arlington. 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. 

Trey Lindsay has a 2-2 record with three saves and a 2.98 ERA over 42 1/3 innings. He has 29 strikeouts to 12 walks on the season. The sophomore from Beckville, Texas was part of ULM's combined no-hitter attempt at No. 6 TCU on May 14, throwing 3 1/3 hitless innings out of the bullpen in relief of Cam Barlow, allowing three unearned runs on no hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He tossed 1 2/3 shutout innings on May 2 at App State, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts. 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 against Little Rock, tossing the final 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts. 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.