ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team visits Braddy Field to meet Jackson State at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. It is the first meeting this season between ULM and JSU after a game on March 22 in Monroe was postponed to May 11 due to weather impacting JSU's travel to Monroe.
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Tuesday's game is available to stream on JacksonStateSportsNetwork.com. The game will air on 1680 AM KRJO, 997thelegend.com and the TuneIn app on the Warhawk Radio Network from Learfield with Mike Hammett on the call. A link to live stats is available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.

Tuesday's game is the 16th all-time meeting between ULM and Jackson State, with ULM leading the series, 8-6-1. The Tigers won the last meeting, 4-2, in Jackson on May 5, 2021. ULM won the last meeting in Monroe, 18-6, on April 21, 2021. The Warhawks have won four of the last five meetings in the series.

ULM (10-19-1 overall, 4-7-1 Sun Belt Conference) has lost its last three games and four of its last five after getting swept at home by Troy over the weekend. The Trojans limited ULM to two hits while striking out the Warhawks 15 times in a 7-2 win on Friday night. Troy then jumped out to a 10-0 lead on Saturday before ULM battled back, eventually falling, 12-7. The series ended with a wild affair on Sunday as Troy built an 8-2 lead after the top of the eighth inning. ULM picked up two runs in the bottom of the eighth, and then scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. ULM failed to score the winning run in both the bottom of the ninth and 10th despite having the run in scoring position. Troy scored five runs in the top of the 11th and held on for the 13-10 win. The Warhawks are hitting .262 as a team with 145 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted an ERA of 5.97.

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 4-2 against Jackson State.

Jackson State (16-16 overall, 4-8 SWAC) enters Tuesday's game on a three-game winning streak after sweeping Mississippi Valley State over the weekend, 11-2, 6-5 and 21-7 in seven innings. The Tigers are 5-2 in midweek games this season, including a 9-3 win over Nicholls in Jackson on March 2 and a 9-5 win over Grambling on March 29. The Tigers are hitting .273 as a team with 184 RBIs while posting a team ERA of 4.86.

Jackson State coach Omar Johnson is in his 16th season leading the Tigers. He has posted 30-or-more wins 13 times in his career at JSU, including seven straight such seasons from 2012-19. Last season, JSU was ranked No. 1 in the Black College Nines HBCU Baseball Large School Top-10 Poll and received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top-30 poll. Johnson is 6-7 against ULM.

WARHAWKS DISPLAY POWER POTENTIAL
Since the start of Sun Belt Conference play on March 18 at Coastal Carolina, ULM has hit 20 of its 29 home runs on the season in a span of 15 games. The Warhawks have hit at least one home run in 17 of the last 20 contests.

In the weekend series against Troy, Caleb Sterling hit a solo homer in the third inning on Friday, senior Mason Holt hit a 3-run blast in the fifth inning on Saturday and sophomore Carson Jones hit a 2-run homer to spark a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday.

Sophomores Chase DeJean and Jones got in on the action at SFA on April 4. DeJean hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning, while Jones added a 2-run blast in the sixth in ULM's 15-6 win.

Holt continued his tear with a solo home run in the third inning April 2 at UT Arlington. He has hit all of his team-leading eight home runs in the last 16 games. 

Holt hit a leadoff home run in the first inning for the second consecutive game March 29 at LSU. His blast to left center glanced off the video board to put the Warhawks out to the quick 1-0 lead. He later added a 2-run home run in the fourth inning, giving him six homers in 10 games. However, LSU controlled the contest as the No. 11 Tigers cruised to the 15-4 victory at Alex Box Stadium.

Over the weekend series against Georgia State, Holt and Colby Deaville hit solo home runs in the 8-5 loss on March 27. Sophomore Michelle Artzberger blasted a 2-run home run in the third inning on March 26 against the Panthers to extend ULM's lead to 3-0 en route to a 5-2 win. On March 25, 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. 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 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. Deaville hit a solo home run on March 19 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, 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 a .336 batting average, .608 slugging percentage, 42 hits, 26 runs scored, 22 RBIs, eight doubles, eight home runs and 76 total bases. He joins fellow senior Grant Schulz as the only two players to start all 30 games in 2022.

The Coppell, Texas, native is slashing .336/.420/.608 at the plate, which all rank in the top three on the team. He is third on the team with five stolen bases.

He has hit safely in 15 of the last 17 games, including 10 multi-hit games in that span. He has hit all eight of his home runs and six of his eight doubles in the last 17 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 March 27 vs. Georgia State, going 4-for-5 with a double, home run, RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. He belted a pair of home runs on March 29 at No. 11 LSU, driving in three of ULM's four runs. He has hit leadoff home runs in the first inning in consecutive games against Georgia State and LSU. He had three hits with a double and a home run at UT Arlington on April 2. He had two hits, including a 3-run home run, vs. Troy on April 9.

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 slashing .326/.426/.512, all ranking second on the team.

He has hit safely in 16 of 22 games since rejoining the starting lineup, including nine 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 March 25 vs. Georgia State before adding a solo home run on March 27. He tallied two hits with a double, was hit by a pitch and scored three runs at SFA on April 4. He was the only Warhawk to hit safely in all three games in the weekend series vs. Troy, collecting two hits in each of the last two games, going 5-for-16 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored vs. the Trojans from April 8-10.

WALK-OFF WASHBURN
ULM second baseman Travis Washburn brought an end to the March 25 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. He had a 2-RBI single in the seventh inning on April 1 at UT Arlington.

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 THAT 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 35th nationally while leading ULM and the Sun Belt Conference with a .504 on-base percentage. He also ranks 16th nationally and leads ULM and the SBC in base on balls (30), while ranking 10th nationally and leading the SBC in base on balls per game (1.03). He had a streak of nine consecutive games with at least one walk drawn snapped on April 4 at SFA, when he went 3-for-6 with a double, RBI and a run scored. He has drawn at least one walk in 12 of the last 14 games. He had a season-high four walks vs. New Orleans on March 5. In addition, he is hitting .314 at the plate (27-for-86) with five doubles, three triples, and is tied for the team lead with 26 runs scored.

Against Troy, he was 4-for-12 at the plate with two triples, two RBIs, four runs scored, four walks and two strikeouts from April 8-10.

He had 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 26 of 27 games with 22 starts and has reached base safely 23 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 had a career-best seven-game hitting streak and 22-game reached-base streak end on April 2 at UT Arlington. He has hit safely in 16 of the last 20 games, including 12 multi-hit games. He bounced back on April 4 at SFA with a 2-for-5 day at the plate with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. He had five hits in the series against Troy, including three hits with two RBIs and a walk on April 10. He has 15 multi-hit games, including a season-high three hits on March 27 vs. Georgia State and April 10 vs. Troy. He is slashing .312/.348/.414 with eight doubles, one triple, one home run, 18 RBIs, 16 runs scored, eight walks and three stolen bases. He is second on the team with 40 hits and is tied for the team lead with eight doubles. He has reached base safely in 26 of 30 games in 2022.

SHUFFLER TAKES THE BUMP TUESDAY
ULM head coach Michael Federico has announced redshirt freshman Henry Shuffler will make his fifth start of the season Tuesday afternoon at Jackson State. Shuffler last started on March 23 vs. Stephen F. Austin, pitching three innings while allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk. He has a 1-2 mark on the season with a 9.53 ERA over 11 1/3 innings, allowing 12 runs on 14 hits with 13 strikeout sand 13 walks. 

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
ULM enters the Jackson State game with three reached base streaks of five-or-more games.

Senior Mason Holt has reached base safely in nine consecutive games after having a seven-game hitting streak snapped on Friday vs. Troy. The nine-game stretch is his longest of the season. Senior Colby Deaville and sophomore Michelle Artzberger have reached safely in each of their last seven appearances. Deaville has a season-high 15-game reached base streak, while Artzberger's streak is the longest of his career.

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).