ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. –. Fresh off its Sun Belt Conference series sweep of Coastal Carolina and its third series win, the ULM softball team (23-16, 9-9) faces Mississippi State (26-17, 7-8 SEC) in Starkville, Miss., Tuesday, April 19 at 5 p.m. SEC Network+ will broadcast the non-conference contest.
 
"This is where it gets fun," said ULM softball head coach Molly Fichtner. "This is where we want to start peaking as a team. We saw a glimpse of it at Coastal. We have to keep getting better and better and learning from each game, and if we do that, we'll put ourselves in a position to be successful.
 
Mississippi State ranks 24th in both home runs per game (1.35) and slugging percentage (.523) as the Bulldogs have two individuals in the Southeastern Conference's top 20 for home runs. Mia Davidson, who leads the team in batting average, runs and total bases, and Matalasi Faapito, have 17 and 10 home runs, respectively. Davidson's total (17) is seventh-highest in the nation and leads the SEC. She is second in the SEC and seventh in the country in on-base percentage (.576)
 
"The big thing in order for us to be successful against a great team like Mississippi State is to keep the ball in the park. They have a lot of power, they swing for the fences and they are a good hitting ball club. The most important thing is to keep them off the bases," Fichtner said. "Offensively, we just have to keep swinging at strikes and taking balls."
 
Three Warhawks are currently in the Sun Belt Conference Top-20 for batting average with Kennedy Johnson at No. 9 (.370), Alexis Chavez (15th) and Lourdes Bacon (17th). Johnson is tied for the league lead with 12 doubles and is 12th with 25 RBI. The ULM pitching corps is well represented on the Sun Belt ERA chart with Adrianna Chavarria at ninth (2.76), Kinsey Kackley 10th (2.78) and Victoria Abrams at 3.02.
 
Mississippi State leads the series 12-6. Five of ULM's six wins in the series with the Bulldogs took place in 1997 and seasons prior. The last Warhawk win came in 2000. The two teams have not played since an early-season tournament in 2010. The Bulldogs lost their weekend series vs. No. 2 Alabama and are 19-9 in non-conference play.
 
The links for both the subscription live stream and live stats will be available on the softball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.