MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team opens a five-game road swing with a trip to Baton Rouge to take on LSU at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium.
Tuesday's game will stream on SEC Network+. It will also air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with
Mike Hammett on the call. Live stats are available with a link on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
Tuesday's game at LSU is the 47th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and the Tigers, with LSU leading the series, 41-5. LSU won the last meeting between the two schools, 5-0, on April 20, 2021. LSU has won 14 consecutive games in the series, with ULM last picking up a win, 7-6, in Baton Rouge on Feb. 14, 2001.
ULM (8-13-1 overall, 3-2-1 Sun Belt Conference) took two out of three games on the weekend series from Georgia State and is unbeaten in four of its last five games. The Warhawks opened the series vs. GSU with a come-from-behind walk-off win in 11 innings as junior
Travis Washburn hit the game-winning 2-run home run. On Saturday, ULM built a 3-0 lead and held off the Panthers, 5-3. On Sunday, GSU took an early 4-0 lead. ULM rallied to tie the game at four, but then GSU pulled back away and held on for the 8-5 win. The Warhawks are hitting .259 as a team with 100 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted an ERA of 5.67.
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 0-2 against LSU.
LSU (17-7 overall, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference) took two-out-of-three games at No. 9 Florida over the weekend, bouncing back from a 7-2 loss on Friday for a 16-4 win on Saturday and an 11-2 win on Sunday to take the series. The Tigers are 3-2 in midweek games this year with wins over Tulane, New Orleans and McNeese while suffering a pair of losses to Louisiana Tech.
LSU head coach Jay Johnson is in his first season in Baton Rouge after previously coaching Arizona for six seasons. He was 208-114 in six seasons with the Wildcats. Prior to his time in Tucson, he coached Nevada for two seasons, going 72-42. He is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene and was later head coach at his alma mater for one season, going 37-16. Tuesday's game marks Johnson's first meeting with ULM.
WARHAWKS DISPLAY POWER POTENTIAL
ULM has hit over half of its home runs this season in the last seven games. The Warhawks have hit 12 homers over the last seven contests and now have 21 home runs on the season.
Over the weekend series against Georgia State, seniors
Mason Holt and
Colby Deaville hit solo home runs in Sunday's 8-5 loss. Sophomore
Michelle Artzberger blasted a 2-run home run in the third inning on Saturday against the Panthers to extend ULM's lead to 3-0 en route to a 5-2 win. On Friday night, junior
Travis Washburn belted a 2-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give ULM a 5-3 win.
On March 23 vs. Stephen F. Austin, ULM hit three home runs for the second time this season. Senior
Grant Schulz opened the game with a 3-run home run before Holt followed later that inning with a grand slam as the Warhawks claimed an 8-2 lead in the first inning. Sophomore
Caleb Sterling belted his first homer as a Warhawk, a 2-run shot, in the seventh inning. ULM picked up a 13-6 win.
In the series at Coastal Carolina, Artzberger hit a pair of 3-run home runs on Sunday, March 20. His first 3-run home run highlighted a 5-run first inning, and his second 3-run blast in the fifth inning put the Warhawks back on top, 13-12. ULM went on to tie CCU, 17-17.
On March 19 at CCU, Deaville hit a solo home run in the second inning to put ULM on top, 1-0. Holt hit a 2-run shot in the seventh inning to cut the Chanticleer lead to 7-4. Coastal held on for a 9-4 win.
On March 18 at CCU, Washburn returned to the starting lineup for the first time in two weeks and hit a solo home run down the left field line to increase ULM's lead to 3-0. The Warhawks went on to win, 3-2.
HOLT LEADS THE WAY
Senior leadoff hitter
Mason Holt leads ULM with 29 hits and 49 total bases while joining fellow senior
Grant Schulz as the only two players to start all 22 games in 2022.
The Coppell, Texas, native is slashing .312/.390/.527 at the plate, while adding six doubles, one triple, four home runs, 12 RBIs, 18 runs scored, nine walks and five stolen bases.
He has hit safely in eight of the last nine games, including five multi-hit games in that span. He has hit all four of his home runs and four of his six doubles in the last eight games. He had a four-RBI game against Stephen F. Austin on March 23, going 2-for-4 with a double and grand slam, all in the first inning. He had a career-high four hits on Sunday vs. Georgia State, going 4-for-5 with a double, home run, RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.
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 .364 (20-of-55) batting average and .600 slugging percentage, adding four doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs, 12 runs scored, eight walks and five stolen bases.
He has hit safely in 11 of 14 games since rejoining the starting lineup, including six 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 March 19. He had two hits with an RBI single on Friday vs. Georgia State before adding a solo home run on Sunday.
WALK-OFF WASHBURN
ULM second baseman
Travis Washburn brought an end to Friday night's 5-3 ULM win over Georgia State, hitting a 2-run walk-off home run to right field in the bottom of the 11th inning. It was his third home run of the season and capped a two-hit, three-RBI night for the junior.
The Conroe, Texas, native returned to the starting lineup on March 18 at Coastal Carolina after being benched for two weeks. 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. He had two hits with a solo home run and walk on March 18 at Coastal before adding two more hits with two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base in the series finale on March 20.
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.
CHANCES ARE CUPIT IS ON BASE
After spending two seasons as one of the first players off the bench for ULM, senior
Ryan Cupit has taken over as the starting left fielder for the Warhawks.
The West Monroe, Louisiana, native ranks 30th nationally while leading ULM and the Sun Belt Conference with a .525 on-base percentage. He also ranks 38th nationally and leads ULM and the SBC in base on balls (21), while ranking 18th nationally and leading the SBC in base on balls per game (1.0). He has walked eight times in the last four games and has drawn at least one walk in nine of the last 10 games. He had a season-high four walks vs. New Orleans on March 5. In addition, he is hitting .321 at the plate (18-for-56) with four doubles, one triple, and a team-best 20 run scored.
He has hit safely in four of the last five games, including a 3-for-5 day at the plate on March 20 at Coastal Carolina with a walk, was hit by a pitch and scored a career high five runs. Cupit has appeared in 21 of 22 games with 17 starts and has reached base safely 18 times. He had an 11-game reached base streak snapped on March 19 at Coastal Carolina.
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 11 of the last 12 games, including seven multi-hit games. He has 10 multi-hit games, including a season-high three hits on Sunday vs. Georgia State, including a double. He is slashing .319/.360/.440 with six doubles, one triple, one home run, 13 RBIs, 13 runs scored, seven walks and three stolen bases. He leads the team with his 29 hits, six doubles and 13 RBIs. He has reached base safely in 20 consecutive games and in 21 of 22 games in 2022.
HOWELL RETURNS TO FACE LSU
ULM junior right-handed pitcher
Mikel Howell returns to the mound for the first time since March 1 on Tuesday night when he makes his first career start against No. 11 LSU.
Howell, a native of Huntsville, Texas, has pitched in three games to open the season for ULM. He fired two innings, allowing an unearned run on one hit with two walks and a season-high five strikeouts vs. Southern Illinois on Feb. 19. He threw 2/3 of an inning vs. Missouri with a walk and a strikeout on Feb. 25. In his last outing before injury, he pitched 1 2/3 innings at No. 2 Ole Miss, allowing a run on one hit with one walk and two strikeouts.
He spent three seasons at Northeast Texas CC. As a sophomore in 2021, he made 12 appearances with 11 starts, going 3-3 with a 6.51 ERA in 47 innings, allowing 49 runs, 34 earned, on 67 hits with 45 strikeouts to 19 walks.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
ULM enters the LSU midweek with two active hitting streaks of five or more games and five active reached base streaks of five or more games.
Senior
Grant Schulz and sophomore
Landon Cato have each hit safely in their last five games. Schulz has a chance to tie his season-best hitting streak on Tuesday night, while Cato is currently on his career-best hitting streak.
Schulz, senior
Colby Deaville, senior
Ryan Cupit, junior
Travis Washburn and Cato have each reached base safely in at least their last five contests. Schulz has reached base safely in 20 consecutive games and 21 of 22 times this season. Deaville follows with a 15-game reached base streak, dating back to March 4 vs. New Orleans. Cupit, Washburn and Cato have each reached safely in five consecutive games.
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).
