BOONE, N.C. – Cam Barlow threw a career-high 7 2/3 innings on the mound while eight different players had at least one hit and one RBI as ULM went on to the 12-3 win over App State to open the three-game series Thursday night at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
The ULM offense gave Barlow plenty of run support, starting in the third inning. After App State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of second inning, ULM responded with a two-out rally. With runners on first and third and two outs,
Kade Dupont hit a 2-RBI double down the left field line, bringing home
Jayson Zmejkoski and
Zack Floyd to take a 2-1 lead.
Shawn Dalton Weatherbee followed with an opposite-field single to bring home Dupont to extend the lead to 3-1.
Riley Davis then belted his third home run of the season, all in the last four games, over the right-center field wall for the 5-1 advantage.
Jake Haggard restarted the rally with a single and a throwing error allowed
Chenar Brown to reach, moving Brown and Haggard to second and third base.
Cardell Thibodeaux tacked on a 2-RBI single to wrap up the rally with ULM on top, 7-1.
App State picked up a run in the bottom of the third, but Barlow settled in after that. Sitting at 53 pitches through three innings, Barlow did not throw double-digit pitches in an inning again until the eighth inning. He allowed just four hits over the fourth through eighth innings.
ULM gave Barlow more support in the four-run fifth inning. Davis hit a one-out ground-rule double to center and Haggard scored him on an RBI single. Brown then hit his first home run as a Warhawk, clearing the center-field wall for a 2-run shot, which extended the lead to 10-2. After homer, Zmejkoski drew a two-out walk and stole second base.
Carson Jones hit an RBI single to center to plate Zmejkoski for the 11-2 lead, chasing App State starter and reigning Sun Belt Conference pitcher of the week Xander Hamilton from the game. He allowed 11 runs, nine earned, on nine hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
ULM added another run in the seventh inning on Zmejkoski's RBI single to score Haggard, while App State picked up a solo home run by CJ Boyd in the eighth inning.
Barlow (2-4) picked up the win, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.
Dalton Burrell retired the final four hitters of the game.
Davis and Haggard had two hits each for ULM, while Brown, Davis, Dupont and Thibodeaux each had two RBIs. Xavier Moronta and CJ Boyd had a pair of hits each for App State.
The series is scheduled to continue at 6 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. CDT Friday in Boone.
