ULM Warhawks

ULM (6-7 overall, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) vs. Northwestern State (5-6 overall, 0-0 Southland Conference)
6 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, 2023 | Lou St. Amant Field | Monroe, La.
Brandt Corley, 6-1, Fr., LHP (0-1, 6.23 ERA, 2 K, 4 BB) vs. Chase Prestwich, 5-11, So. RHP (1-0, 2.45 ERA, 14 K, 1 BB)
LISTEN: 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
GAME NOTES

MONROE, La. - The ULM baseball team returns to Lou St. Amant Field for the second-straight night to take on regional rival Northwestern State at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Warhawks are coming off a 4-3 win over Memphis on Tuesday night at "The Lou" while Northwestern State dropped two out of three games at home against UT Arlington over the weekend, dropping Friday's game, 5-4, and Sunday's game, 5-2, while winning Saturday's contest, 11-10.

Wednesday's game marks the second game of the final scheduled double midweek of the 2023 season. ULM is set to play a single midweek game on either Tuesday or Wednesday until the final week of the regular season, when the Warhawks have the week off between series at home vs. Southern Miss and at Texas State.

Wednesday's game is the 228th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Demons, with the Demons holding a narrow 114-113 advantage in the series. ULM has won two of the last three meetings, after splitting last year's series. ULM won in Monroe, 6-2, on March 9, while NSU returned the favor in Natchitoches on May 10, 10-5. The Warhawks are a perfect 4-0 at home against the Demons under the leadership of head coach Michael Federico. ULM's series is the most-played rivalry in Warhawk baseball history, with McNeese in second with 198 meetings and Louisiana Tech in third at 186 meetings.

ULM picked up a 4-3 win over Memphis on Tuesday night at Lou St. Amant Field. Cardell Thibodeaux's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Travis Washburn with the go-ahead run. Carson Orton threw a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of 2023 and the 16th of his career. Davis Meche led ULM with three hits and an RBI double, while Zack Floyd and Carson Jones had two hits apiece. Nicholas Judice (1-1) picked up the win, throwing two innings out of the bullpen, allowing two runs on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Brandt Corley is scheduled for his second collegiate start on Wednesday night. The 6-1 freshman from Lucas, Texas, is 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA over 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts. He has made three appearances overall, including his first start at Mississippi State on Feb. 22, where he allowed one run on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings.

Junior first baseman Michelle Artzberger has reached base safely in 26 consecutive games dating back to the 2022 season. He hit a single in the bottom of the sixth inning to keep the streak intact Tuesday night. He kept his streak alive in his last at bat on Sunday vs. UIW, hitting a solo home run.

ULM head coach Michael Federico is in his sixth 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. In 2022, Federico led the Warhawks to their third consecutive appearance in the SBC Championship, including a first-round win against Georgia State before falling to eventual regional-finalist team Texas State in the rain-altered single-elimination quarterfinals.

Wednesday's game will air on 105.7 FM/540 AM KMLB, KMLB.com and the TuneIn app with Mike Hammett on the call. There is no live video stream. ESPN+ coverage of home ULM baseball games includes all Sun Belt Conference games, beginning March 17 vs. Old Dominion. A link to live stats can be found on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.

WARHAWKS, DEMONS RENEW MOST-PLAYED RIVALRY IN ULM HISTORY
Wednesday's game is the 228th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Demons, with the Demons holding a narrow 114-113 advantage in the series. ULM has won two of the last three meetings, after splitting last year's series. ULM won in Monroe, 6-2, on March 9, while NSU returned the favor in Natchitoches on May 10, 10-5. The Warhawks are a perfect 4-0 at home against the Demons under the leadership of head coach Michael Federico. ULM's series is the most-played rivalry in Warhawk baseball history, with McNeese in second with 198 meetings and Louisiana Tech in third at 186 meetings.

FLOYD FLIES INTO TEAM LEAD IN HITTING
ULM junior infielder/outfielder Zack Floyd has taken advantage of his playing time to surge into the team lead at the plate, pacing the Warhawks with a .346 average (9-for-26) among qualifying hitters. He has started each of the last seven games, picking up a double, triple and two home runs among his nine hits with three RBIs and 10 runs scored. He has also zoomed into a tie for the team lead with six stolen bases, all coming in the last five games, including two more on Tuesday vs. Memphis. Floyd had two hits, including a double, with a run scored to become a qualifier in team-leading categories on Tuesday night vs. Memphis. He had two hits, including a solo home run, on Sunday at UIW. He had three hits, including a triple and a solo home run, in his first-career start vs. SIUE on Feb. 25.

DAVIS BECOMES IRONMAN BEHIND THE PLATE
ULM junior catcher Riley Davis has started each of the last 10 games, including the last six at catcher. He has collected all 13 of his hits in that span. He is second on the team in hitting at .333 (13-for-39) with a team-high four doubles with seven RBIs and five walks. He went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs on Feb. 21 vs. Mississippi State for his first three hits as a Warhawk. He continued the hot streak by hitting safely in all three games of the weekend series against SIUE. He picked up two hits, including a double, on Feb. 24 against the Cougars. On Feb. 25, he picked up another double with a pair of RBIs and a walk. He wrapped up the series on Feb. 26 with two more hits, including another double, with an RBI. He went 2-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored with two walks on Feb. 28 vs. Grambling for his fourth multi-hit and third-multi-RBI game. He added singles on Saturday and Sunday at UIW and again on Tuesday vs. Memphis.

DUPONT OFF TO QUICK START FOR WARHAWKS
Red-shirt freshman Kade Dupont has started at second base and hit in the top third of the lineup in each of the first 13 games of the season. The Watson, Louisiana, native has hit safely in nine of 13 games. He had a pair of three hit games coming against Bradley (Feb. 17) and at Mississippi State (Feb. 21). He added two hits with an RBI on Feb. 25 vs. SIUE. He hit his first-career home run and picked up his first multi-RBI game in the process, driving in two runs at UIW last Friday.

He hit safely in all three games of the weekend series against SIUE. He was 1-for-3 on Feb. 26 against the Cougars with a walk and a run scored. He had two hits on Feb. 25 while adding an RBI, two runs scored and a walk. He opened the series on Feb. 24 with a 1-for-5 day at the plate with a run scored.

He picked up a hit in both games at Mississippi State. After opening the midweek set with a 3-for-5 game with a double, RBI and three runs scored, he went 1-for-3 at the plate on Feb. 22.

In his collegiate debut against Bradley on Feb. 17, he had three hits, scored twice and stole a base. He closed out the series with Bradley on Feb. 19 by going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Despite going 0-for-3 at the plate on Feb. 18, he picked up an RBI on his first sacrifice fly.

ARTZBERGER MAKES THE MOST OF HIS EARLY SEASON HITS
ULM junior first baseman Michelle Artzberger has reached base safely in 26 consecutive games dating back to the 2022 season. He hit a leadoff single in the sixth inning Tuesday night, sparking a 2-run frame, to extend the streak to 26 games. His streak was in jeopardy entering his final at bat on Sunday at UIW, but he belted a solo home run, his third of the season, to extend the streak. He hit a double to extend the streak on Saturday and walked twice on Friday at UIW. He is hitting .250 at the plate, going 12-for-48 with three doubles and three home runs among his 12 hits. He has 15 RBIs on the season to lead the team. He has drawn 11 walks on the season, which also leads the team.

He picked up four hits in the weekend series against SIUE, adding three RBIs with four runs scored and a walk. He opened the series on Feb. 24 with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. On Feb. 25, he picked up a walk with a run scored. He closed the series on Feb. 26 with two more hits, driving in two runs while scoring twice.

On Feb. 21 at Mississippi State, he hit a 2-run home run in the fifth inning to give ULM a 3-0 lead, and then belted a 3-run home run in the sixth inning to push the lead to 7-0 as the Warhawks went on to the 11-5 win. 

He opened the season with a double and an RBI on Feb. 17 vs. Bradley before adding a hit and an RBI on Feb. 18. He had a ground-rule double and also drove in three runs in the series-clinching win on Feb. 19. 

RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM
ULM junior infielder/outfielder Zack Floyd and junior outfielder Shawn Dalton Weatherbee lead the team with six stolen bases in seven attempts each on the season, good for a tie for sixth place in the Sun Belt Conference. Floyd has stolen six bases over the last five games, with two steals on Tuesday vs. Memphis and two on Feb. 28 vs. Grambling. Weatherbee stole a base last Friday and another last Saturday at UIW. Five of his six steals have come in the last eight games. He has scored at least one run in nine of 13 games on the season. He joins Michelle Artzberger and Kade Dupont as the only three players to start all 13 games in 2023.

Freshman outfielder Cardell Thibodeaux is third on the team with five stolen bases, while junior infielder/outfielder Davis Meche and junior first baseman Michelle Artzberger are tied for fourth with four steals.

CORLEY SLATED FOR ULM DEBUT ON WEDNESDAY
Freshman left-handed pitcher Brandt Corley is slated to make the start on Wednesday vs. Northwestern State. It is the second start of his career, after he threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts at Mississippi State on Feb. 22. He has allowed three runs on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings and three appearances on the season.

He was a three-year varsity letterwinner at Lovejoy High School in Texas, helping the Leopards reach the fourth round of the state playoffs in 2021 and the third round of the state playoffs in 2022. In his senior season, the Lucas, Texas, native came back from surgery to work as the ace of the staff. As a junior, he started Tuesday games in district play, picking up eight wins, 88 strikeouts and a 0.57 ERA to earn First-Team All-District recognition. As a sophomore in 2020, he was 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 21 strikeouts before the season ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He earned Academic All-American recognition.

He is the cousin of Jake Thompson, who was drafted by the Detroit Tigers and played in the Tigers, Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies organizations, making his Major League debut with the Phillies and also played in Korea and Mexico.

BURRELL, JUDICE, ORTON STRONG OUT OF BULLPEN
Junior right-handed pitchers Dalton Burrell, Nicholas Judice and Carson Orton have been bright spots out of the bullpen so far in 2023. 

Burrell, a transfer from LSU Eunice, leads qualifying bullpen pitchers with a 1.04 ERA over 8 2/3 innings, spread among five appearances, allowing one run on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks. He made his ULM debut against Bradley on Feb. 18, throwing three innings, allowing one run on four this with one walk and two strikeouts. He threw two perfect innings against SIUE on Feb. 24 before throwing another scoreless inning with one hit and one walk on Feb. 26 against SIUE. He settled down UIW's bats on Sunday, throwing a shutout inning, allowing two hits with one strikeout. He stranded a pair of inherited runners on Tuesday vs. Memphis, pitching 1 2/3 perfect innings with three strikeouts.

Judice, who is in his fourth season at ULM, ranks fourth on the team with 13 innings pitched over five appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 4.15 ERA with a 1-0 record and one save, allowing six runs on nine hits with five walks and 17 strikeouts, which is tied for most on the team. He threw three scoreless innings in the season opener against Bradley on Feb. 17, allowing one hit with one walk and five strikeouts. After giving up two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout while pitching the ninth inning of ULM's 11-5 win at Mississippi State on Feb. 21, he bounced back by throwing the final three shutout innings on Feb. 25 vs. SIUE to earn the save, allowing one walk with four strikeouts. He pitched four innings vs. UIW on Friday, allowing two runs on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He picked up his first win on Tuesday vs. Memphis, allowing two runs on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts over two innings.

Orton, who is in his third season at ULM, has a 1-1 record with one save and a 3.48 ERA over 10 1/3 innings, spread over five appearances out of the bullpen.  He has allowed six runs, four earned, on eight hits with five walks and 12 strikeouts. He pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts vs. SIUE on Feb. 24. He fired the final 3 2/3 innings at UIW on Friday, all in extra innings, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He picked up his first save of 2023 on Tuesday vs. Memphis, pitching a scoreless and hitless ninth inning, allowing one walk with two strikeouts. His 16 career saves rank as the second most in program history.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS
The 2023 ULM baseball roster includes six players who played high school baseball inside Ouachita (wah-shuh-tah) Parish. The roster includes three players from Sterlington High School in senior outfielder Jarrett McDonald, freshman infielder Seaver Sheets and sophomore left-handed pitcher Adam Tubbs; two players from West Monroe High School in junior infielder and right-handed pitcher Chase DeJean and junior infielder Carson Jones; and one player from Ouachita High School in sophomore right-handed pitcher Zach Shaw.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The 2023 ULM baseball roster features both a Canadian and an Australian. Pitcher Russell Derbyshire (Leamington, Ontario) represents Canada on the roster. It marks the sixth consecutive season ULM has had at least one Canadian on the roster. Pitcher Maxim Mrakovcic (Sydney, Australia) is the lone Australian on the roster.

WELCOME TO "THE LOU"
ULM baseball is playing its first season at the school's baseball facility with its newly-appointed name: Lou St. Amant Field. The name change to honor the former baseball head coach and Northeast Louisiana University alumnus was approved by the Louisiana Board of Supervisors on Aug. 25, 2022.

St. Amant spent 18 seasons as the head coach of the NLU baseball team, picking up 414 career victories, and was instrumental in both the initial construction of the baseball facility in 1983 and the turf and Stadium Club renovation project, which culminated prior to the 2022 season.

There were several high points in St. Amant's career. His first feat came in his initial season as head coach. After spending two years as an assistant, the 1970 NLU graduate took over in 1976 and led Northeast to a 20-13 record, halting a string of four consecutive losing seasons.
 
His first victory as a head coach came in his very first game, 6-2 over Northwestern State.
 
Northeast was an NCAA Division I independent when the Norco, Louisiana, native took over. St. Amant's first three seasons were as an independent before NLU joined the Trans America Athletic Conference in 1979. The best finish for NLU in the TAAC was a tie for first in the West Division during the 1982 season.
 
Northeast joined the Southland Conference in 1983 and made a sudden impact. St. Amant led the Indians to their first conference title in any major men's sport in the SLC. The Indians also advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the first time. They had previously played in the NAIA playoffs four times, reaching the 1970 World Series, before becoming an NCAA member.

Prepping at Destrehan High School, St. Amant was an outstanding high school player who continued his career at LSU. Difficulties with his pitching arm ended his career at LSU. After leaving LSU, St. Amant started his teaching and coaching career at schools in south Louisiana. He spent time at Sacred Heart School in Norco (1960-64), St. Charles Boromeo in Destrehan (1964-66 and 1967-68) and St. Joan of Arc School in LaPlace (1966-67) before coming to Northeast as an assistant and completing his bachelor's and master's degrees.

After his graduation in 1970, St. Amant returned to the high school ranks. His greatest success came during five years as athletic director and head football coach at Lutcher High School, where he posted a 44-13 record, including LHSAA Class 3A state championship and runner-up teams. His 1975 squad went undefeated at 13-0-1 in taking the Class 3A title.

Returning to NLU in January of 1976, he was also an assistant football coach, but dropped those duties in 1979 to devote all of his time to baseball.
 
His wife Marilyn was a fixture at home games and enjoyed traveling and cheering on Lou and his teams. The couple was married for 58 years before her passing in July 2020.
 
St. Amant has also had his number retired by ULM baseball and was named a Warhawk Ambassador Award winner by the ULM Foundation in May of 2022.
 
A formal dedication ceremony will take place later this season.

ULM PICKED 11TH IN NEW-LOOK SUN BELT CONFERENCE
The ULM baseball team was selected to finish 11th in the Sun Belt Conference in the preseason SBC Coaches' Poll, announced Feb. 8 by the SBC office.

The Warhawks finished with 58 points, sitting behind 10th-place James Madison at 73 points and ahead of App State at 43 points. Southern Miss earned 11 first-place votes and was picked to win the league with 192 points, ahead of Georgia Southern and Texas State, who tied for second. 

Seven different SBC programs were noted in at least one of the five major national preseason polls.

Southern Miss, which hosted a NCAA Baseball Regional and Super Regional a year ago, was ranked among the Top 25 in every major preseason poll. The Golden Eagles were listed as high as No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D1Baseball, while also earning nods in the USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll (No. 19), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason Poll (No. 20) and the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 (No. 21). 
 
2022 NCAA Baseball Regional host Georgia Southern was also listed at No. 35 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, which ranks the Top 50 teams in its preseason edition, and received votes in both the NCBWA and USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches preseason ledgers. 
 
The Sun Belt Conference fell one game short of sending a team to a Super Regional for the fourth and fifth time since 2014 a year ago—with both Coastal Carolina and Texas State reaching their respective regional finals. 
 
Both the Chanticleers and Bobcats received votes in all three preseason polls that publish a receiving votes category—Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCBWA and USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches. 
 
The Ragin' Cajuns, the Sun Belt's fourth postseason participant from 2022, earned preseason mention from both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and NCBWA. 
 
Old Dominion—which was among the last four teams left out of last year's NCAA field—and Troy—which advanced to last year's Sun Belt Baseball Championship semifinals—received votes in the NCBWA preseason publication. 
 
The Sun Belt boasted the No. 6 conference RPI in the nation in 2022—trailing only the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA. Four current Sun Belt programs were listed among the Top 30 in the final RPI in 2022—No. 20 Texas State, No. 22 Southern Miss, No. 25 Georgia Southern and No. 29 Coastal Carolina. 
 
No. 46 Old Dominion, No. 54 Ragin' Cajuns, No. 73 South Alabama, No. 97 Georgia State and No. 100 Troy gave the new-look Sun Belt nine teams among the Top 100 at the conclusion of the 2022 campaign. 
 
Sun Belt baseball programs have earned 18 NCAA berths over the past 10 seasons.