MONROE, La. – The ULM softball team (9-2) faces in-state competition at Grambling State Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. at the GSU Softball Complex. The two teams played last in March of 2021 with ULM sweeping the doubleheader.
"The biggest thing is that we've got to take what we learned this weekend and get better at it Tuesday," said ULM head coach
Molly Fichtner. "There's nothing like live games in midweek to practice those things that you might not been as successful at over the weekend. It's better now for us to have those things be exposed now and learn from it, and figure it out before we go into the weekend at the Auburn Invitational."
The Warhawks picked up three wins at the Golden Eagle Invitational last weekend, compiling 38 hits and scoring 25 runs over the five games. Freshman
Gabby Davila led ULM with 10 hits and six RBI combined over the weekend and is second on the team behind junior
Kennedy Johnson (.500) with a .462 season batting average. Johnson and sophomore
Lourdes Bacon tallied six hits each at the Golden Eagle Invitational as Johnson brought five runs across and Bacon scoring five runs.
In the circle,
Victoria Abrams pulled in two wins, striking out nine, and Kassidy Gidden had the third win of the weekend. Gianna Hulett picked up the save in ULM's victory over Mississippi Valley State.
Grambling State is 5-2 and has won its last three games by significant margins. The Tigers topped a common opponent in Jackson State in a 17-2 run-rule victory in the final game of the River City Classic on Feb. 13. The Tigers have one of the nation's best ERA marks at 0.95, good for 12
th in the country and best in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Averaging 6.3 runs per game, the Tigers are ranked just outside the Top-50 at 56, but are in the Top-30 in stolen bases with 2.14 per game.
Tiger pitcher/first baseman Sherrell Matthews has two home runs already this season and a team-best eight RBI. Outfielder Ta'mya Johnson leads Grambling State with a .462 batting average, including two multi-base hits vs. Jackson State. Pitcher Dacia Richard has three outings so far in 2022 and a conference-leading ERA of 1.24.
ULM won both games of a doubleheader vs. the Tigers in March of 2021 at the ULM Softball Complex.
Korie Kreps had two hits, including a double, and scored two runs and
Jayden Mount accounted for two RBI in the 4-2 win in game one. Catcher
Kelsey Giddens knocked in three runs as three Warhawks had two hits each in an 8-0 victory in game two.
Kelsey Giddens and
Amber Coons pitched complete games for the wins in game one and two, respectively.
ULM finishes out the month of February at Auburn's Plainsman Invitational at Jane B. Moore Field with five games scheduled over the weekend, Friday, Feb. 25-Sunday, Feb. 27.
