TROY, Ala. – Troy's Shane Lewis hit two home runs with five RBIs, powering the Trojans to a 7-5 win over ULM Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
 
The Trojans (15-7 overall, 1-3 Sun Belt Conference) overcame five errors on the night thanks to Lewis' bat. He hit a 3-run blast to cap a 4-run first inning, and then added a 2-run homer in the eighth inning to give Troy a pair of critical insurance runs. Troy had six hits as a team, but had four extra-base hits.
 
"The name of the game today was extra-base hits with the home runs and doubles that we gave up," ULM head coach Michael Federico said. "I thought we played a pretty clean baseball game. I thought we backed them against the wall a few times, but we just couldn't get the big hit when we needed to. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the ball in the yard tonight."
 
ULM (8-15, 0-4) starter Cam Barlow (1-3) struggled to settle in during the bottom of the first inning. Kole Myers led off with a triple off the scoreboard in right field. After Ethan Kavanagh walked and William Sullivan popped out, Kyle Mock hit an RBI double, setting up Lewis' first homer, a 3-run blast to left field, for the 4-0 lead.
 
Barlow found his stride after the home run, allowing only a two-out RBI single by Kavanagh in the second inning as the Trojan lead increased to 5-0. He threw four innings, allowing five runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in taking the loss.
 
ULM started to fight back in the fourth inning. Jayson Zmejkoski walked with one out. Travis Washburn followed with a single as Zmejkoski moved to third base. Matt Abshire hit an RBI single to left, moving Washburn to third and scoring Zmejkoski to cut the gap to 5-1. Carson Jones' sacrifice bunt plated Washburn to get within three, 5-2.
 
The Warhawks added two more runs in the fifth inning. After Kade Dupont's leadoff walk, Jake Haggard hit a one-out RBI triple to right, scoring Dupont. Cardell Thibodeaux followed with a sacrifice fly to score Haggard to pull within a run, 5-4.
 
"I thought our approaches at the plate were really good," Federico said. "We had a bunch of hits, but it goes back to extra-base hits. It would be nice to split a gap a little bit."
 
ULM had a base runner in the sixth inning when Carson Jones was hit by a pitch, and the Warhawks tallied two hits in both the seventh and eighth innings, but had two baserunners thrown out to cut the innings short as Troy kept the 5-4 lead.
 
Lewis helped add to Troy's cushion with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, sending the ball over the 27-foot high wall down the right-field line, pushing Troy's lead to 7-4.
 
ULM picked up a run in the ninth inning on Thibodeaux's RBI single with two outs, but pulled no closer.
 
Brady Fuller earned the win on the mound for Troy, throwing five innings in the start, allowing four runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Noah Manning notched his fifth save, recording the final four outs, allowing an unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts.
 
ULM was led by Thibodeaux's two hits and two RBIs, while Riley Davis and Travis Washburn had two hits each. Along with Lewis, Mock had two hits and an RBI for Troy.
 
The Warhawks and Trojans are scheduled for a doubleheader to wrap up the series beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field.