STARKVILLE, Miss. – Michelle Artzberger belted two home runs and left-handed pitcher Hollis Huff fired 4 2/3 innings of shutout baseball in his ULM debut as the Warhawks built an 11-0 lead and cruised to an 11-5 win over Mississippi State Tuesday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
 
It marks ULM's first win over MSU since a 7-1 win over the Bulldogs on April 1, 2009, at Warhawk Field in Monroe. It is ULM's first win against MSU in Starkville since an 8-7 victory on March 7, 2001.
 
Huff made the start on the mound after right-handed pitcher Henry Shuffler suffered an injury in practice Monday night. Huff responded in a big way in his ULM debut, allowing just one hit, a first-inning single by Dakota Jordan, and two walks with three strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. Right-hander Carson Orton came out of the bullpen and allowed two runs on one hit with one walk and two strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings to pick up his first win of the season. The duo limited MSU to just two hits through seven innings.
 
ULM opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. Artzberger walked with two outs and moved to second when Chenar Brown reached on a fielding error. Riley Davis knocked home Artzberger with an RBI single to center field for the 1-0 advantage.
 
The lead stayed put until the fifth inning. After Kade Dupont walked to open the inning, Artzberger unleashed his first home run of the season, just clearing the left-center field wall for the 3-0 lead. Brown, Davis and Jake Haggard followed with three straight hits, as Haggard's RBI single scored Brown for the 4-0 lead.
 
The Warhawks blew the game open in the sixth inning. Shawn Dalton Weatherbee was hit by a pitch and Dupont singled before Artzberger hit his second home run of the day, a 3-run shot to left center for the 7-0 lead. It was Artzberger's second career two homer game after also accomplishing the feat last season at Coastal Carolina. Brown followed with a single and was lifted for pinch-runner Travis Washburn. Davis connected on a double to center, which plated Washburn from first base for the 8-0 advantage.
 
ULM had one more big inning in store as Dupont hit an RBI double down the left field line to go up, 8-0. With Dupont on third on two outs, Washburn hit a fly ball to deep right center field that fell in between the right fielder and center fielder. After Jordan, the center fielder, picked the ball up, it slipped out the back of his hand as he set to throw the ball into the infield, allowing Washburn to motor around the bases and score standing up for the 11-0 lead.
 
MSU hit a 2-run home run with Luke Hancock in the seventh inning and another 2-run blast with Bryce Chance in the ninth inning, while Hunter Hines had an RBI single in the eighth inning, for the final margin.
 
Dupont had his second three-hit game of the season while adding an RBI, three runs scored and a walk. Davis had three hits and two RBIs. Artzberger had the two home runs, five RBIs, three runs scored and two walks, while Brown added two hits with a run scored.
 
ULM and Mississippi State wrap up the midweek set at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Dudy Noble Field.