ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team opens a four-game home stand with a 6 p.m. game against Stephen F. Austin Wednesday at Warhawk Field. Tuesday night's contest vs. Jackson State was postponed due to the closure of Jackson State's campus, preventing travel for the Tiger baseball team.

Wednesday night's game is scheduled for broadcast on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call. Live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. There is no video stream for Wednesday night's game. Eight more Warhawk baseball home games will be streamed on ESPN+ later this season.

Wednesday's game is the 61st all-time meeting between ULM and SFA, with the Warhawks leading the series, 38-22. The two teams last faced off in 2018, with SFA taking two of three games in a weekend series in Nacogdoches. ULM won the series opener, 9-7, before the Lumberjacks won the final two games, 10-7 and 13-11. It is the first midweek meeting between the two teams since April 26, 2016, an SFA victory in Nacogdoches, 6-2. Wednesday's game marks the first meeting between the two at Warhawk Field since a three-game series from Feb. 20-22, 2015. ULM won the first two games of the series, 5-0 and 10-3, before SFA won the finale, 8-7.

ULM (5-12-1 overall, 1-1-1 Sun Belt Conference) split its first series in Sun Belt Conference play over the weekend, going 1-1-1 at Coastal Carolina. The Warhawks picked up their first-ever win over the Chanticleers, 3-2, on Friday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium. CCU bounced back with a 9-4 win over ULM on Saturday. On Sunday, the two teams played to a 17-17 tie, with the game ending after eight innings and four hours due to a curfew in place to allow for ULM's travel back to Monroe. It was the first tie for ULM since 1993. The Warhawks are hitting .262 as a team with 81 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted an ERA of 6.21.

ULM head coach Michael Federico is in his fifth season with the Warhawks. After leading the club to an 11-win improvement in his first year and a two-win improvement in his second year, he led the Warhawks to their first .500-or-better season since 2012 with a 26-26 mark in 2021 as ULM finished third in the Sun Belt Conference West Division. Federico is 1-2 against SFA.

SFA (4-13 overall, 0-6 WAC) has lost nine straight games dating back to a 9-6 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 4. The Lumberjacks were swept in a WAC series at Abilene Christian over the weekend, falling 11-1, 12-8 and 11-6. ULM and SFA have each played Northwestern State this season, with SFA dropping two of three games in the season-opening series in Natchitoches, while ULM defeated Northwestern State on March 9, 6-2. The Lumberjacks are hitting .259 as a team with 66 RBIs, while the pitching staff has an 8.04 ERA.

SFA coach Johnny Cardenas is in his 14th season leading the Lumberjacks. He has led SFA to 30 or more wins three times and was the 2010 Southland Conference Coach of the Year. He is 6-4 against ULM.

ULM CELEBRATES WARHAWK FIELD RENOVATIONS
ULM's Warhawk Field underwent major renovations in the 2021-22 offseason. The renovations at Warhawk Field included installation of DoublePlay Speed FieldTurf in the infield and DoublePlay Natural FieldTurf in the outfield, the home bullpen moved adjacent to the first base dugout, the visitor bullpen moved off of the field of play in the left field corner, brought fans closer to the action with foul territory walls moved closer to the foul lines and a new premium seating area, The Stadium Club, located behind home plate at field level. The ULM home locker room also saw upgrades in the process. Last season, the Warhawk baseball weight room was completed, immediately adjacent to the team's locker room.

WARHAWKS SHOW POWER AT COASTAL CAROLINA
ULM belted five home runs over the weekend at Coastal Carolina, hitting one on Friday and two each on Saturday and Sunday. The Warhawks now have 14 home runs on the season.

On Friday, junior Travis Washburn hit a solo home run down the left field line to push ULM's lead to 3-0 over CCU. It ended up being the game-winning hit, as the Warhawks won 3-2. It was his second home run of the season and his first out-of-the park home run.

On Saturday, seniors Colby Deaville and Mason Holt each hit a long ball at Springs Brooks Stadium. Deaville cleared the left field bullpen with a solo home run in the second inning to put ULM on top, 1-0. Trailing in the seventh inning, Holt belted a 2-run home run to left center, bringing the Warhawks back within three, 7-4, before eventually falling, 9-4. It was the second home run of the season for both Deaville and Holt.

In Sunday's series finale, it was sophomore Michelle Artzberger's time to shine. Artzberger hit a pair of 3-run home runs, hitting a towering blast to right field in the 5-run first inning before adding a second to right center field in the fifth, erasing Coastal's 12-10 lead and putting ULM back on top, 13-12. It was the first two home runs of Artzberger's career.

DEAVILLE PROVIDES OFFENSIVE BOOST
Senior Colby Deaville entered the starting lineup on Saturday, March 5, against New Orleans and provided an immediate boost to the ULM offense. Deaville, who started 31 games at shortstop in 2021, is leading the team with a .421 (16-of-38) batting average, adding four doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs, nine runs scored, six walks, five stolen bases, and 10 strikeouts.

He has hit safely in eight of 10 games since rejoining the starting lineup, including five multi-hit games. He had career highs with four hits and three RBIs to go with two doubles, two runs scored, a walk and a steal on March 5 vs. UNO. He added two hits in the series finale vs. the Privateers on March 6. On March 9 vs. Northwestern State, he tacked on two hits with a double, RBI and run scored. He opened the series at Nicholls on March 11 going 1-for-4 with a walk. On March 12, he had two hits, including a home run, with an RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases. On March 13 at Nicholls, he did not have a hit, but was hit by a pitch and scored from first base on an RBI single by Caleb Sterling to give ULM a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning. He had three hits, including a solo home run, with a walk and a stolen base at Coastal Carolina on Saturday.

WASHBURN RETURNS TO THE STARTING LINEUP
ULM second baseman Travis Washburn returned to the starting lineup on Friday at Coastal Carolina. After struggling early in the season, he went 4-for-9 at CCU with a home run, three RBIs, a run scored, two walks, a stolen base and a strikeout.

Washburn was a Second-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection at second base last year. He had opened the season 3-for-27 at the plate prior to losing his starting spot after the March 4 game vs. New Orleans. He had two hits with a solo home run and walk on Friday at Coastal before adding two more hits with two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base in the series finale on Sunday.

SCHULZ NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE BY PERFECT GAME
ULM senior third baseman Grant Schulz was selected to Perfect Game's Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team at designated hitter.

Schulz led the Warhawks with a .333 batting average in 2021, which ranked fifth in the Sun Belt Conference. He had 10 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 30 RBIs, 22 runs scored and 12 walks while playing in 42 games with 35 starts on the season. Schulz was a big part of ULM's late-season surge. Schulz hit a team-best .440 (33-for-75) from April 18 to May 28 with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs, 20 RBIs, 18 runs scored, five walks and two stolen bases. In that span, Schulz raised his batting average from .185 to lead the team at .333. He hit safely in nine of the last 10 games with six multi-hit games in that stretch.

Schulz has hit safely in seven of the last eight games, including five multi-hit games. He has two hits in a game eight times this season. He leads the team in hits (22) and doubles (four).

LOCAL CONNECTIONS
The 2022 ULM roster features seven players from inside Ouachita Parish. The Warhawks have four players who attended West Monroe High School (senior Ryan Cupit, sophomore Chase DeJean and Carson Jones and freshman Lane Little), two from Sterlington High School (redshirt freshman Adam Tubbs and true freshman William Perkins) and one from Ouachita Parish High School (true freshman Zach Shaw). Overall, the Warhawks have 17 players hailing from the state of Louisiana.

O CANADA!
The 2021 ULM baseball roster features two players from Canada: pitcher Tylor Jans (Edmonton, Alberta) and pitcher Lucas Wepf (Brampton, Ontario).