ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team concludes a four-game homestand with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against App State at Warhawk Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. It is the first time for App State to visit Monroe since the 2018 season.
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Friday's and Saturday's games will both stream on ESPN+, while all three games of the series will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call for both ESPN+ and KMLB. Links to live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. There is no video stream available for Sunday's contest.

Friday's game is the 15th all-time meeting between ULM and App State with the Mountaineers leading the series, 8-6. ULM won two of three games in Boone last season. After the Mountaineers won the series-opener, 6-4, the Warhawks bounced back and rallied with a six-run top of the ninth to win the middle game of the series, 10-7, and used a six-run top of the eighth to pull away before winning 13-5 in eight innings due to the drop-dead time for travel. App State led in all three games of the series. The Mountaineers won two of three games in their last trip to Monroe in 2018, winning the series opener and finale by 4-1 scores, while ULM won the middle game, 5-0.

ULM (13-21-1 overall, 5-9-1 Sun Belt Conference) has won two of its last three games entering Friday's game. The Warhawks won Wednesday's midweek contest against McNeese in walk-off fashion, 4-3 in 10 innings. ULM lost last week's series opener to the Ragin' Cajuns, 14-2, before bouncing back in a dramatic 7-5 win on April 15, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead. ULM put 10 hits on the board in the April 16 series finale, but struggled to move runners around the bases in a 7-1 loss. The Warhawks are hitting .263 as a team with 165 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted an ERA of 5.96.

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 3-5 against App State.

App State (11-23 overall, 3-12 Sun Belt Conference) has lost four straight games entering Friday's contest. The Mountaineers were swept by Coastal Carolina last weekend in Boone, 14-3, 6-1, 9-3, and lost Tuesday's midweek at Wake Forest, 6-5. They have lost nine consecutive SBC games after falling in sweeps at South Alabama and vs. Texas State. The Mountaineers won two of three games at Little Rock and dropped two of three games at Georgia Southern. App State is hitting .248 as a team with 156 RBIs, while the pitching staff has posted a 5.57 ERA.

App State coach Kermit Smith is in his sixth season leading the Mountaineers. He helped App to its first winning record in SBC play last season, going 11-10 inside the conference while also picking up its first-ever win at the SBC Championship by defeating Texas State. He previously spent seven seasons at Lander and eight seasons at Belmont-Abbey as head coach before arriving in Boone. Smith is 5-3 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 20 games. The Warhawks have hit at least one home run in 19 of the last 25 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 on April 15. 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 April 12, 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 April 8, Holt hit a 3-run blast in the fifth inning on April 9 and sophomore Carson Jones hit a 2-run homer to spark a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth on April 10.

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 .607 slugging percentage, 47 hits, 31 runs scored, 24 RBIs, 10 doubles, nine home runs and 88 total bases. He is second on the team with a .324 batting average and 17 walks. He joins fellow senior Grant Schulz as the only two players to start all 35 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 and hits, seventh in runs scored and ninth in doubles.

The Coppell, Texas, native is slashing .324/.413/.607 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 22 games since, including the game at Nicholls, he is slashing .366/.449/.763 with all nine of his homers on the season, eight of his 10 doubles, 22 of his 24 RBIs and 23 of his 31 runs scored. He has hit safely in 19 of those 22 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 .311/.402/.481, all ranking inside the top three on the team.

He has hit safely in 21 of 27 games since rejoining the starting lineup, including nine multi-hit games and is currently on a career-high nine-game hitting streak. 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.

WARHAWK WALK-OFF
ULM has picked up two walk-off wins at this season.

The Warhawks picked up their second walk-off of the year on Wednesday night. In the 10th inning, sophomore Chase DeJean hit a sacrifice fly to deep left center, scoring senior Trace Henry to defeat McNeese, 4-3.

ULM junior 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.

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 eighth nationally while leading ULM and the Sun Belt Conference with a .524 on-base percentage. He also ranks 10th nationally and leads ULM and the SBC in base on balls (36), while ranking fifth nationally and leading the SBC in base on balls per game (1.06). His 36 walks are 11 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 a team-best .340 at the plate (35-for-103) with six doubles, three triples, and is second on the team with 27 runs scored.

On Wednesday against McNeese, Cupit had three hits, including a double, with a walk as he reached safely in each of his first four trips to the plate.

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 34 of 35 games with 30 starts and has reached base safely 30 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 .289/.321/.376 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 seven of the last nine games at catcher for ULM, and has come through at the plate as well. On April 20 vs. McNeese he went 1-for-3 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to four games and has reached base safely in seven consecutive games. 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 .450 (9-for-20) with five RBIs, five runs scored, four walks and six strikeouts.

STARTING ROTATION REMAINS IN FLUX AHEAD OF SERIES WITH APP STATE
ULM head coach Michael Federico has announced the first two starters of the weekend series with App State and will determine Sunday's series finale starter following the conclusion of Saturday's game. Redshirt sophomore left-hander Cam Barlow will make his 10th series-opening start of the season while true sophomore right-hander Cole Cressend will start in the second game for the sixth-consecutive series.

Barlow is slated for his 10th series-opening start of the season. The Halls, Tennessee, native is 2-4 this season with a 5.13 ERA over 47 1/3 innings, allowing 32 runs, 27 earned, on 48 hits with 39 strikeouts and 18 walks. He is aiming to bounce back on Friday vs. App State after dropping to 0-3 in April with a 10.29 ERA over 14 innings. He has allowed 20 runs, 16 earned, on 24 hits with 12 strikeouts to one walk in April. He allowed nine runs, eight earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts and no walks on April 14 against the Ragin' Cajuns. He pitched a career-high 7 1/3 innings and 100 pitches on April 8 vs. Troy, allowing six runs, four earned, on nine hits with four strikeouts and one walk. He suffered the loss on April 1 at UT Arlington, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks in 4 1/3 innings. He took a no-decision in the March 25 5-3 win in 11 innings over Georgia State, pitching six innings while allowing three runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts. He earned back-to-back wins, throwing 5 2/3 innings March 18 at Coastal Carolina, allowing an unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts and a career-high six walks, but he induced three double play balls behind him to help get out of trouble. He gave up three runs in five innings for the win at Nicholls on March 11.

Cressend will make his sixth consecutive start in the second game of the weekend series. The Mandeville, Louisiana, native is 3-3 with a 7.05 ERA over 37 innings, allowing 32 runs, 29 earned, on 37 hits with 22 strikeouts and 17 walks. Against the Ragin' Cajuns on April 15, he threw six innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts and one walk. He struggled on April 9 vs. Troy, allowing six runs, five earned, on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. He picked up his second consecutive win on April 2 at UT Arlington, throwing five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in a 5-2 win at UT Arlington. He earned the win on March 26 in a 5-2 victory against Georgia State, throwing a career-high six innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk. In his first career weekend start on March 19 at Coastal, he suffered the loss after working 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on six hits with one strikeout and two walks. He allowed three runs in the first four innings before giving up three more runs in the fifth inning after he exited the game.

Federico will announce Sunday's probable starter following the conclusion of Saturday's contest.

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

Senior Colby Deaville has hit safely in a career-high nine consecutive games and has reached base safely in 12 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 six contests.

In addition to Deaville and Beech, senior Mason Holt has reached base safely in 14 consecutive contests. Sophomore Michelle Artzberger is tied with Deaville with a 12-game reached base streak. Sophomore Matthew Lee has been aboard in eight consecutive games, while senior Ryan Cupit has reached base safely in seven straight games.

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).