ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM Warhawks close the home portion of the 2021 schedule with a three-game series against Sun Belt Conference foe UT Arlington. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Warhawk Field.

All three games of the series will air on ESPN+ and 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call for both the TV and radio feeds.

Friday's game is the 87th all-time meeting between ULM and UT Arlington with the Mavericks leading the series, 51-35. ULM took two of three contests from UTA in 2019 with the Mavericks winning the first game of a doubleheader, 10-2, on May 3 before the Warhawks won the nightcap, 8-0. ULM then won the rubber match of the series, 6-3, on May 5. The two teams met again in the third round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Conway, South Carolina, with ULM winning 18-5 in seven innings.

ULM (20-21 overall, 7-11 Sun Belt Conference) dropped Wednesday's midweek contest at Jackson State, 4-2. The Warhawks have won seven of the last nine contests, including four of its last six Sun Belt Conference games. ULM took two out of three games in the weekend series at Appalachian State last week, losing 6-4 on Friday before bouncing back with a 10-7 win on Saturday and a 13-5 win in eight innings due to the travel curfew on Sunday. ULM won two out of three games in a weekend series with Little Rock from April 17-19.

UT Arlington (22-23 overall, 10-5 Sun Belt Conference) leads the West Division of the Sun Belt entering the weekend. The Mavericks took over first place in the division by sweeping Little Rock last week, 1-0 in 11 innings, 5-4 and 3-0. The 1-0 win in 11 innings was a combined no-hitter by the UTA pitching staff with starting pitcher Carlos Tavera firing nine no-hit innings. The Mavericks have won their last five weekend series dating back to the split of a four-game weekend series with Houston on March 26-28. UTA is coming off an 8-4 loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

LEADING OFF

• Ty Barnes gets the nod for another series-opening start on Friday night as the second-year senior from Petal, Mississippi will take the mound at Warhawk Field for the final time. He has a 2-4 record with a 4.40 ERA over 47 innings with 41 strikeouts to seven walks. Last week, Barnes suffered the loss at Appalachian State, allowing four runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five innings. In his last home start, Barnes threw six shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out four against Southern on April 23. In 2019, Barnes picked up two complete game wins against UTA. In the first meeting on May 3, Barnes threw a complete-game shutout, giving up seven runs with one walk and three strikeouts. At the SBC Championship, Barnes threw a seven-inning complete game, allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

• Cam Barlow is in line for another Saturday start for ULM. Barlow is 5-4 with a 5.01 ERA over 46 2/3 innings with 48 strikeouts to 15 walks. The third-year freshman from Halls, Tennessee took his first no-decision of the season on Saturday at App State, giving up seven runs, six earned, on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. In his last home start, Barlow threw a career-high seven shutout innings, scattering five hits while recording six strikeouts. At home this season, Barlow is 4-2 in six starts with a 2.32 ERA over 31 innings with 31 strikeouts to eight walks.

• Cole Martin has been announced as Sunday's starter for the Warhawks. The senior from Destrehan, Louisiana will make his third consecutive start in a series finale. He took a no-decision on Sunday at App State, throwing 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts. In his first career weekend start, Martin picked up the win, throwing five innings, giving up a run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Martin has made nine appearances with four starts in 2021, posting a 1-1 record with a 3.97 ERA over 22 2/3 innings with 16 strikeouts to 12 walks.

• Andrew Beesley returned to the lineup on Friday at Appalachian State after missing five games. He has hit in the top third of the order for the Warhawks in 30 of his 34 games this season. He has started 26 games at designated hitter with seven starts, including three of his last five starts, at first base. He was 1-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs in the May 1 come-from-behind win at App State. 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 .252 (31-for-123) with five doubles, one triple, 13 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 16 walks, 23 strikeouts and six stolen bases. His 16 bases on balls is third on the team and boosts his on base percentage to .352. 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 10 of the last 13 games at designated hitter. He has hit safely in six of his last eight starts. At App State, Cato had two hits on May 2 for his first career multi-hit game while adding his first stolen base. He singled and walked in the May 1 come-from-behind win. He 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 18 games with 11 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 for his first hit. In his first career start on April 3, he went 1-for-3 with another sacrifice fly and his third RBI of the week. He is hitting .227 (10-for-44) with four RBIs, five runs scored, four 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. He has made three appearances in the last 12 games, including a start on May 1 at App State. He has 21 starts at shortstop and three at third base and has hit safely in 18 of his 24 starts. 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 .284 (23-for-81) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, nine RBIs, 10 runs, six walks 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, nine starts at first base, eight starts at second 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 opened the scoring Wednesday at Jackson State with an RBI double. He tallied two hits on April 27 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 .246 (30-for-122) with 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 25 games with three starts, hitting 5-for-22 with six runs scored and five walks. The West Monroe, Louisiana, native hit a pinch-hit leadoff single in the ninth inning at Jackson State on Wednesday. He hit the game-tying 2-RBI double in the top of the ninth inning on May 1 at App State. He hit a leadoff pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth inning in game one of the April 25 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 April 21. 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.

• Colby Deaville has started 10 of the last 11 games for ULM at shortstop. The second-year junior from Broomfield, Colorado has 15 hits on the season after collecting three hits in the weekend series at App State. He had two hits in the May 2 series finale against the Mountaineers. He earned an RBI in all three games of the series, despite coming off the bench in the second game of the series. Over the last eight games, he has seven hits, three doubles, eight RBIs, five runs and three 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 .246 (15-for-61) with six doubles, 11 RBIs, 11 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 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 11 games. DeSimone was second in the Sun Belt in 2020 with six home runs and 22 RBIs.

• Trace Henry is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Hitter of the Week 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 from April 27-May 2. He has started 16 consecutive games after returning from an injury at Alabama on April 7. He has 12 multi-hit games on the season, including back-to-back multi-hit games to close the series at App State. On May 1, he led the team with four hits, including two doubles and one triple, while scoring four times with a sacrifice bunt. On May 2, he tallied three more hits with two RBIs, a run scored and a sacrifice bunt. He has reached base safely in 32 of 37 games this season. He is hitting .326 (44-for-135) with 11 doubles, two triples, 11 RBIs, 27 runs scored, 15 walks and 11 steals. He leads the team in batting average and doubles.

• 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 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 five homers, 26 RBIs, 34 runs scored, three triples, 18 steals, and 22 walks all lead the team and he ranks second on the club with 44 hits and eight doubles. He has 13 multi-hit games and 16 extra-base hits on the season. He is hitting .267 (44-for-165) on the season.

• Ryan Humeniuk continues to be one of ULM's top offensive threats. He had a season-best six game hitting streak come to an end on April 27 at the Ragin' Cajuns but has hit safely in nine of the last 11 games after hitting safely in all three games over the weekend vs. App State. Humeniuk has 11 RBIs in the last 11 games. The Stonewall, Manitoba native 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. He 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 has six doubles, one triple, four home runs, 25 RBIs, 27 runs scored, 20 walks and 13 stolen bases. He is second on the team with a .402 on base percentage and 25 RBIs.

• Carson Jones has mainly served as a late inning defensive 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 sixth appearance on the mound this season on Wednesday at Jackson State, throwing 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 7 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on four hits with six walks and 11 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 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.

• Matthew Lee has played in five games in the last two weeks. 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 16 games and started eight 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 .286 (8-for-28) with two doubles, two RBIs, six runs and five walks. McKay has a .412 on base percentage and .464 slugging percentage.

• Grant Schulz took 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 10 games and started each of the last eight contests. He continued his torrid stretch with three more hits on April 27 at the Ragin' Cajuns, hitting a triple and scoring once, and hit safely in all three games of the weekend series at App State, including two hits with an RBI and a double in the May 2 series finale. 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 .294 (25-for-85) on the season with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 19 RBIs, 13 runs scored, 11 walks and four stolen bases.

• Travis Washburn has started 31 consecutive games with 30 starts at second base and one in right field. The sophomore from Conroe, Texas has hit safely in 10 of the last 12 games after having a season-high eight-game hitting streak broken up on April 30 at App State.  He has picked up 10 of his 14 RBIs on the season since April 21. He drove in two runs with one of his two singles on April 21 vs. Jackson State. He collected a career-high four hits, including a home run, with a career-high three RBIs and three runs scored on Sunday at App State. He had two hits with an RBI and two runs scored against the Mountaineers on Saturday. Washburn has five of his 10 multi-hit games since April 21. He has a .309 batting average (40-for-120) with seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 13 RBIs, 25 runs scored, nine walks and six stolen bases.

• Logan Wurm continues to increase his offensive output. He has collected 11 of his 23 hits since April 21. Wurm had two of ULM's four hits on Wednesday at Jackson State. 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. It's the third time this season Wurm has picked up three RBIs in a game. Wurm had a huge series against 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. 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.

• Four bullpen pitchers have compiled a sub-4.00 ERA this season, giving head coach Michael Federico plenty of 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 2.73 ERA over 26 1/3 innings. He has not allowed an earned run over his last four appearances and 11 innings. 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 28 strikeouts to seven walks this season.

Trey Lindsay has a 2-2 record with three saves and a 2.88 ERA over 34 1/3 innings. He has 23 strikeouts to nine walks on the season. The sophomore from Beckville, Texas 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. 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.

Carson Orton has compiled a 3.25 ERA over 27 2/3 innings with an 0-1 record and team-high four saves. He has 22 strikeouts to seven walks on the season. He earned his fourth save of the season on May 1 at App State, pitching a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout. 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. 

Landon Longsworth has earned wins in each of his last two appearances out of the bullpen. He tossed two shutout innings with two hits, one walk and one strikeout for the win on May 2 at App State. 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 for the win on April 27 at the Ragin' Cajuns. 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 14 appearances with a 2-2 record and a 3.72 ERA over 29 innings, posting 22 strikeouts to 14 walks.