ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team opens a four-game homestand with a midweek game against McNeese at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Warhawk Field. It is the first of consecutive midweek meetings scheduled between the Warhawks and the Cowboys, with ULM set for a return trip to Lake Charles at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Wednesday's game will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call. A link to live stats is available on the ULM baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. Due to Sun Belt Conference video streaming rules, there is no video stream available for Wednesday's game. Six more home games are slated to be streamed on ESPN+ this season, including two games this weekend when ULM faces App State in SBC play.

Wednesday's game marks the 197th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Cowboys, making it the second-most played rivalry in ULM baseball history, behind only Northwestern State at 226 meetings. It is the first meeting between ULM and McNeese since the final weekend series of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when ULM won two of three games in Lake Charles, taking the first two games, 8-2 and 5-3, before the Cowboys won the finale, 3-1. It is the first meeting at Warhawk Field since 2019, when McNeese won two of three, taking a wild Friday night game, 12-3, before ULM won on a game that was suspended to Sunday due to fog, 10-5. The Cowboys won the finale, 10-2.

ULM (12-21-1 overall, 5-9-1 Sun Belt Conference) has lost two of its last three games entering Wednesday night's contest. The Warhawks lost Thursday's series opener to the Ragin' Cajuns, 14-2, before bouncing back in a dramatic 7-5 win on Friday, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead. ULM put 10 hits on the board in Saturday's series finale, but struggled to move runners around the bases in a 7-1 loss. The Warhawks are hitting .262 as a team with 161 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted an ERA of 6.07.

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 4-4 against McNeese.

McNeese (20-16 overall, 6-6 Southland Conference) has won four straight games entering Wednesday's game at Warhawk Field. The Cowboys are coming off a three-game weekend sweep of Incarnate Word, 9-3, 4-3 and 11-1, before defeating former Southland foe Sam Houston, 8-4, on Monday in Lake Charles. The Cowboys are 5-3 in midweek games this year and have won their last three midweeks. McNeese is hitting .286 as a team with 210 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted a 4.06 ERA.

McNeese coach Justin Hill is in his ninth season leading the Cowboys. The West Monroe native has guided McNeese to each of the last two NCAA tournaments, playing in the Fort Worth Regional last season and the Nashville Regional in 2019. His teams have won 30 or more games six times in seven full seasons. He is 11 wins away from tying the school record for wins at 263, held by the late Tony Robichaux. He was an assistant coach on ULM's 2012 NCAA Regional team under head coach Jeff Schexnaider. Hill is 7-7 against ULM. 

WARHAWKS DISPLAY POWER POTENTIAL
Since the start of Sun Belt Conference play on March 18 at Coastal Carolina, ULM has hit 22 of its 31 home runs on the season in a span of 19 games. The Warhawks have hit at least one home run in 19 of the last 24 contests.

In the series at UL Lafayette, junior Austin Beech hit his first career home run, a go-ahead 2-run homer to highlight a five-run top of the ninth rally for ULM in a 7-5 win over the Ragin' Cajuns. It was ULM's first Sun Belt Conference win over the Cajuns in Lafayette since 2012, and just the third win over the Cajuns in the last 34 meetings.

In the midweek game at Jackson State on Tuesday, senior Mason Holt belted a 2-run go-ahead home run in the top of the fifth inning, putting ULM ahead 3-1. He has hit all of his team-leading nine home runs in the last 21 games. The Warhawks went on to an 8-3 win.

In the weekend series against Troy, sophomore Caleb Sterling hit a solo homer in the third inning on Friday, 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. 

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 .329 batting average, .614 slugging percentage, 46 hits, 31 runs scored, 24 RBIs, nine doubles, nine home runs and 86 total bases. He joins fellow senior Grant Schulz as the only two players to start all 34 games in 2022. His nine homers are tied for third-most in the SBC, while he is third in the league in total bases. He is sixth in the SBC in slugging percentage.

The Coppell, Texas, native is slashing .329/.420/.614 at the plate, which all rank in the top two on the team. He is third on the team with five stolen bases.

Holt bashed his first home run of the season on March 13 at Nicholls. In the 21 games since, including the game at Nicholls, he is slashing .375/.461/.784 with all nine of his homers on the season, seven of his nine doubles, 22 of his 24 RBIs and 23 of his 31 runs scored. He has hit safely in 18 of those 21 games with 11 multi-hit games.

Inside SBC play, Holt is slashing .371/.466/.694 with six doubles, one triple, four homers, 10 RBIs, 14 runs scored and nine walks. He is the one of two Warhawks hitting over .300 in conference play (Ryan Cupit, .321).

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. He hit the go-ahead 2-run homer April 12 at Jackson State.

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 .314/.407/.490, all ranking inside the top three on the team.

He has hit safely in 20 of 26 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. He enters Wednesday's game vs. McNeese on a career-best eight-game hitting streak.

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. He has since been out with an injury, returning for a pair of pinch-hitting appearances at UL Lafayette on April 15 and 16.

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 15th nationally while leading ULM and the Sun Belt Conference with a .514 on-base percentage. He also ranks 12th nationally and leads ULM and the SBC in base on balls (35), while ranking fifth nationally and leading the SBC in base on balls per game (1.06). His 35 walks are 10 better than the next closest player in the SBC (Griffin Cheney, GSU, 25). 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 had a season-high four walks vs. New Orleans on March 5. In addition, he is hitting .323 at the plate (32-for-99) with five doubles, three triples, and is second on the team with 27 runs scored.

In the series at UL Lafayette, he had two hits with a walk on April 16; two hits, including a key RBI, with two walks on April 15; and was 1-for-4 on April 14.

At Jackson State on Tuesday, he was 0-for-2 with two walks, was hit by a pitch and picked up an RBI, his seventh of the season.

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 19 of the last 24 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 added a two-out, 2-RBI single vs. Jackson State on April 12. 

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 .299/.331/.389 with eight doubles, one triple, one home run, 23 RBIs, 17 runs scored, nine walks and three stolen bases. He is second on the team with 41 hits and is tied for the team lead with eight doubles. He has reached base safely in 27 of 31 games in 2022.

LEE CATCHING ON
Sophomore Matthew Lee has started six of the last eight games at catcher for ULM, and has come through at the plate as well. In his two starts at UL Lafayette, he had two hits in each game and was also hit by a pitch on April 14. He had career highs with two hits and three RBIs, including a bases-loaded 2-RBI single on April 12 at Jackson State. He also had base hits at SFA and on April 9 vs. Troy. He had two RBIs against SFA. Since joining the starting lineup in a regular role on April 4 at SFA, he is hitting .471 (8-for-17) with five RBIs, five runs scored, three walks and five strikeouts.

SHUFFLER GETS ANOTHER MIDWEEK NOD
Redshirt freshman Henry Shuffler is set for his sixth start of the season Wednesday night when ULM faces McNeese. Shuffler is 1-2 with a 7.53 ERA over 14 1/3 innings, allowing 13 runs, 12 earned, on 17 hits with 18 strikeouts to 15 walks. He fired three innings in his last start at Jackson State, giving up an unearned run on three hits while matching his career-high with five strikeouts and walking two. It is Shuffler's fourth home start of the season.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
ULM enters Wednesday night's game with two hitting streaks of five-or-more games and seven reached base streaks of five-or-more games.

Senior Colby Deaville has hit safely in a career-high eight consecutive games and has reached base safely in 11 straight games. Junior Austin Beech is the only other Warhawk with a hitting streak of five-or-more games, doing so in each of the last five contests.

In addition to Deaville and Beech, senior Mason Holt has reached base safely in 13 consecutive contests. Sophomore Michelle Artzberger is tied with Deaville with an 11-game reached base streak. Sophomore Matthew Lee has been aboard in seven consecutive games, while seniors Ryan Cupit and Grant Schulz each have six-game reached base streaks.

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).