MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team plays a split double midweek against its most-played rival, Northwestern State, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Warhawk Field and 6 p.m. Wednesday at Brown-Stroud Field in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Wednesday's contest is a make-up for a previously scheduled contest on Feb. 22, which was postponed due to rain.
Both games of the midweek set will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with
Mike Hammett on the call. There is no video stream available for Tuesday's game. However, Wednesday's game is available to stream on NSUDemons.com. Links to live stats for both contests are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
Tuesday's game is the 226th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Demons, with NSU leading the series 113-112. ULM won the only meeting last year, 5-2, on Feb. 24, 2021, at Warhawk Field. It was the season opener for ULM. Weather and the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of all scheduled meetings in 2020. Wednesday's game is ULM's first visit to Brown-Stroud Field since Feb. 26, 2019, when Northwestern State rolled to a 15-0 win. The Warhawks have lost seven consecutive games against NSU in Natchitoches, last defeating the Demons on their home field on March 26, 2013, 5-4.
ULM (1-9 overall) has lost nine consecutive games since a season-opening 1-0 win over Southern Illinois. The Warhawks picked up a season-high 11 runs on Saturday and had a season-high 14 hits on Saturday and Sunday vs. New Orleans. However, UNO swept all three games, winning 8-2, 13-11 and 10-5. ULM is hitting just .232 as a team with 36 RBIs. The Warhawk pitching staff has posted a 6.49 ERA, while the defense has committed 16 errors and has a .957 fielding percentage.
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 3-2 against Northwestern State, with all three wins at Warhawk Field.
Northwestern State (3-8 overall) has lost seven consecutive games since opening the season 3-1, including back-to-back wins over Stephen F. Austin and a Friday night win at Oklahoma on Feb. 25, 4-2. The Demons have also struggled offensively, getting shut out in all three games over the weekend against Nebraska (2-0 and 6-0) and UT Arlington (1-0) in games at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington. NSU is hitting .210 as a team with 27 RBIs. However, the Demon pitching staff has posted an ERA of 3.45.
Northwestern State head coach Bobby Barbier is in his sixth season with the Demons. The NSU alumnus led the Demons to a South¬land Conference tournament championship and NCAA Regional appearance in 2018. Barbier is 4-3 against ULM, and 3-0 against the Warhawks at home.
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.
SENIORS HELP JUMP START WARHAWK OFFENSE
ULM seniors
Colby Deaville and
Ryan Cupit helped the Warhawks pick up an offensive jolt over the weekend series against New Orleans.
Deaville made his second start of the season on Saturday vs. the Privateers and responded with career highs in hits (four) and RBIs (three). He had two doubles with two runs scored with a walk and a stolen base. He tallied two more hits on Sunday.
Cupit started the final two games of the weekend, going 0-for-1 but with four walks and a run scored on Saturday. He then had a career-high four hits with a double off the center field wall, RBI and a run scored on Sunday vs. UNO.
The duo combined to go 10-for-14 with three doubles, four RBIs, five runs scored and five walks.
CATO BREAKS THROUGH VS. PRIVATEERS
ULM sophomore
Landon Cato earned his first three career extra-base hits vs. New Orleans over the weekend. Cato opened with a double off the batter's eye in center field on Saturday before adding a 2-run home run to right center later in the game to finish 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. On Sunday, he doubled again, going 1-for-5 with a run scored.
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 10 games and reached base safely in nine of 10 games to begin the season. His 10 hits are tied for the team lead with
Mason Holt.
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, sophomores
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).
