MONROE, La. – Cardell Thibodeaux's 2-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning put ULM on top for good, as the Warhawks held on for a 12-10 win in a wild, back-and-forth game against Murray State Saturday night at Lou St. Amant Field to tie the series at a game apiece.
Both teams rallied from a deficit twice, but it was ULM's rally that stood in the end.
ULM took the lead in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by
Michelle Artzberger and
Bryce Blaser, going ahead 2-0.
Murray State answered in the top of the second. After starting pitcher
Hollis Huff exited with an injury,
Joey Cirelli entered and recorded two quick outs. However, the Racers had the next seven men reach base and scored four runs, including Riley Hawthorne's 2-RBI single for the lead. Murray State led 4-2 to the bottom of the second inning.
ULM hit back in the bottom of the second inning as
Easton Winfield's second hit of the night drove in
Marcus Aranda to trail 4-3.
The Warhawks regained the lead in the fourth inning, putting up three runs in the inning. Winfield's RBI triple brought home
Jayson Zmejkoski,
Colby Lunsford's RBI single plated Winfield and
Michelle Artzberger's RBI single brought in Lunsford for a 6-4 advantage.
It seemed like the Warhawks broke the game open in the sixth inning. Zmejkoski led off the inning with his third hit of the night on a single to center. Winfield followed with a walk and Lunsford was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After an out,
Jake Haggard stepped to the plate and smacked a bases-clearing double to the left-centerfield wall, pushing the ULM lead to five, 9-4.
However, Murray State wasn't going to go quietly. The Racers added a run in the seventh inning on Taylor Howell's RBI single to pull within four, 9-5.
Murray State produced its second big inning of the night in the top of the eighth. Drew Vogel clubbed an RBI double and was followed by Dustin Mercer's RBI single to get within two, 9-7. After a Warhawk pitching change, the rally continued as Jonathan Hogart walked and Hawthorne added an RBI single to bring in Mercer to get within a run, 9-8. After another ULM pitching change, Carson Garner tied the game with an RBI single and Howell hit a sacrifice fly, giving the Racers a 10-9 lead.
ULM answered in a big way in the bottom of the inning. Winfield opened the inning with an infield single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Lunsford. Artzberger hit a comebacker that popped loose on the right side of the infield for a single, moving Winfield to third. Haggard laid down a sacrifice bunt on the first base line with the safety squeeze on. Howell overran the ball, allowing Winfield to score to tie the game at 10. A failed pickoff attempt at second base moved Artzberger and pinch-runner
Hasani Johnson to second and third, allowing Thibodeaux to drive both in with a 2-RBI double down the right-field line for the 12-10 lead.
After recording the final two outs of the eighth inning,
Carson Orton returned to pitch the ninth. Murray State put two runners on base, but Orton struck out Hogart to end the game.
ULM racked up 17 hits on the night, led by a 4-for-4 performance from Winfield, adding two RBIs, four runs scored and a walk. Artzberger had three hits with two RBIs and two runs scored. Zmejkoski also had three hits and two runs. Lunsford had two hits and an RBI while scoring twice.
Bryce Blaser had two hits with an RBI before exiting the game with an apparent leg injury.
Murray State had 11 hits of its own. Hawthorne had three hits with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Mercer had three hits with two RBIs and two runs scored. Vogel added two hits with an RBI and two runs scored.
Orton (1-0) earned his first win of the season on the mound for ULM, throwing the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Cam Barlow entered the game in the bottom of the second inning and settled down the Racers for 4 1/3 shutout and hitless innings with four strikeouts on just 43 pitches.
Bryce Valero (1-1) suffered the loss for Murray State, throwing three innings, allowing six runs, four earned, on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
The two teams meet for the rubber match at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lou St. Amant Field.
