CONWAY, S.C. – The ULM softball team opened its Sun Belt Conference series at Coastal Carolina with an 11-3 run-rule victory in six innings at St. John Stadium. Six Warhawks had two hits apiece as ULM had 15 total hits for the win. This season, the 11-run total is the highest for ULM against a Sun Belt opponent.
 
"Coastal Carolina is a really good ball team and we needed to respect them from the first pitch," said ULM head coach Molly Fichtner. "We challenged our team and told them that we needed to keep our foot on the gas pedal for the entire game. It was an overall team effort. Our offense showed up, we had a ton of hits and took bases when we should have. Whenever you can bring our lead-off and two-hole hitter to the plate five times in the same game, you're doing a good job rolling the lineup over and you're going to score a lot of runs."
 
Eight total runs were scored in the first inning as ULM put five on the board to start the game. Sun Belt Player of the Week Kennedy Johnson doubled to plate two runs after back-to-back walks put Alexis Chavez and Korie Kreps on base. Jacelyn Buck singled, stole second and then moved to third when Kelsey Giddens had her two-out RBI single to bring Johnson across home for a 3-0 lead. Kelsey Giddens stole second and both she and Buck scored when Madelyn Fletcher belted her single to left-center for a 5-0 start.
 
Coastal Carolina came out of the gate in the bottom of the first with three runs. Iyanla De Jesus' double down the right-field line plated all three scores after a walk and two singles loaded the bases. The Chanticleers had other opportunities, but could not capitalize on them, and did not add any runs to their total for the rest of the game. Coastal Carolina left seven runners stranded.
 
Buck's RBI double brought in another run after lead-off hitter Chavez singled to start the second inning to put the ULM up 6-3. Neither team could score in the third or fourth with both teams leaving two runners stranded in the fourth. In the fifth, the Warhawks batted again, adding two more runs for an 8-3 lead. After her lead-off single, Lourdes Bacon advanced to second on Kelsey Giddens sacrifice ground out and scored on Fletcher's fielder's choice play. Kreps had a first-pitch single to right to score Fletcher.
 
With Davila and Kelsey Giddens on second and first, respectively, after singles by both, Fletcher singled to plate the first of three runs in the sixth. Her hit brought Davila across home. A wild pitch moved Fletcher to third while allowing Kelsey Giddens to score. Chavez's double drove in Fletcher and gave ULM an eight-run margin for the 11-3 final.
 
Kinsey Kackley (7-4) started and pitched four innings for the win. Adrianna Chavarria came in for two innings of work in relief. Four pitchers made appearances for Coastal Carolina with Mady Volpe (1-3) taking the loss.
 
Due to the potential for inclement weather on Saturday, the Warhawks and Chanticleers will play a doubleheader Friday, April 15, with a 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT start time.