Michelle Artzberger home run vs Texas State 2022 Sun Belt Championship quarterfinal
AJ Henderson / Sun Belt
2
ULM ULM 20-35-1
8
Winner Texas State TXST 45-11
ULM ULM
20-35-1
2
Final
8
Texas State TXST
45-11
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
ULM ULM 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 3
Texas State TXST 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 X 8 7 3

W: Stivors, Tristan (7-1) L: Barlow, Cam (2-7)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Late-Inning Miscues Prove Costly as ULM Falls to Texas State in Sun Belt Quarterfinals

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Wesley Faison went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs while Tristan Stivors pitched three scoreless innings in relief as No. 1-seed Texas State rallied from a 2-0 deficit by scoring the next eight runs for an 8-2 win over No. 10-seed ULM on Friday, May 27 in the final quarterfinal game of the 2022 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship.
 
ULM (20-35-1) touched Texas State starting pitcher Zeke Wood for a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Colby Deaville led off the frame with an infield single up the middle and Michelle Artzberger followed with a two-run homer to right-center field as the Warhawks jumped out to a 2-0 advantage. It marked Artzberger's fifth home run of the season.
 
The Warhawks put the lead-off man on in each of the first three innings against Wood and left five base runners through the first four innings.
 
Meanwhile, ULM starting pitcher Cam Barlow throttled Texas State's lineup through the first five innings, allowing no runs on two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. Barlow retired eight batters in a row during one stretch, and a Bobcat base runner failed to reach second base until the sixth inning.
 
Texas State's first three batters reached base against Barlow in the bottom of the sixth as Cameron Gibbons opened with a single to center field, Isaiah Ortega-Jones reached on a fielding error and Dalton Shuffield followed with a single to right field. Tylor Jans came out of the ULM bullpen and his wild pitch sent Gibbons home for the Bobcats' first run of the game. Justin Thompson's sacrifice fly to center field scored Ortega-Jones to tie the game at 2-all. With two outs, Faison gave Texas State the lead for good at 3-2 as his RBI single up the middle scored Shuffield.
 
The Bobcats broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh, scoring four runs on only one hit and an error. Texas State picked up two more runs on a throwing error and a walk before Faison delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield to extend the lead to 7-2.
 
Shuffield, who accounted for three of Texas State's seven hits in the game, drove home an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI groundout to the pitcher.
 
Wood went five innings and surrendered two runs on three hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.
 
Stivors, who picked up the win in relief and improved to 7-1 on the season, threw three scoreless innings while allowing only one hit with one walk and four strikeouts.
 
Barlow (2-7), who took the loss, pitched five-plus innings and allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits.
 
"I just want to thank my team and my administration because it's been a crazy year," ULM coach Michael Federico said. "We had to battle injuries, including four pitchers that didn't throw an inning this year and two catchers, who broke their hands. So, it's been a trying year … probably, the most trying year for me professionally. But at the same time, I feel like we showed some resiliency. We had Texas State stumbling a little bit tonight.
 
"I thought (Cam) Barlow gave us a really quality start and we got the big hit by Artzberger to put two runs on the board, and then Texas State just settled in. (Tristan) Stivors comes in and stifles you; he just smothers you with all that spin. But I'm proud of our guys; proud of them qualifying to get here and then winning the opening-round game.
 
"Barlow really battled tonight," Federico continued. "He got them to expand the zone a little with his fast ball, then he'd mix the change up in there. He was able to get under their hands a little bit with the fast ball and jam them some. I thought his approach was really good. Barlow had eight punch outs, which was huge because that's a dynamic offense right there and just keeps coming at you with experience and maturity."
 
Ryan Cupit, who drew his 58th walk to lead off the third inning, set ULM's single-season record for walks, breaking the mark previously held by Terry Matthews, who accepted 57 free passes in 1987.
 
Texas State (45-11), which extended its current winning streak to 11 games, will face the No.4-seed Ragin' Cajuns in the second semifinal game on Saturday, May 28 at 7 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium. No. 6-seed Troy will face No. 2-seed Georgia Southern in the first semifinal game at 3 p.m. Saturday.
 
Cam Barlow vs Texas State 2022 Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals

 
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