MONROE, La. – Ian Montz belted a grand slam while Colby Lunsford and Kade Dupont each drove in a pair of runs as ULM clinched a series win over Texas State with a 10-8 win Saturday afternoon at Lou St. Amant Field.
 
It marks the first series win for ULM (17-17 overall, 5-9 Sun Belt Conference) over Texas State (17-19, 5-9) since 2018, which was head coach Michael Federico's first season, after Friday's 7-5 win over the Bobcats.
 
Texas State struck first on Saturday, as Daylan Pena hit a two-out double and scored when Aaron Lugo reached on a fielding error for the 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning.
 
ULM responded in a big way. Easton Winfield and Jayson Zmejkoski hit back-to-back singles to open the inning, and Bryce Blaser was hit by a pitch with one out to load the bases. Colby Lunsford followed with an RBI single to right field, scoring Winfield to tie the game at 1. Montz then crushed the grand slam, the second home run of his career and third grand slam of the season for ULM, hitting it 418 feet to center field for the 5-1 advantage.
 
The Warhawks chased Texas State starting pitcher Sam Hall in the second inning. Winfield tripled with one out and scored on Shawn Dalton Weatherbee's infield single with two outs to push the lead to 6-1.
 
The Bobcats made a charge in the third and fourth innings. August Ramirez hit an RBI single in the top of the third inning to cut the gap to 6-2.
 
In the top of the fourth inning, Alec Patino hit a solo home run and Cade Manning followed two batters later with a 2-run home run to bring Texas State within a run, 6-5, knocking ULM starting pitcher Beau Blanchard out of the game. Parker Seay entered and retired the next three hitters. He worked three scoreless innings for ULM.
 
The Warhawks answered with a bigger bottom of the fourth inning. Winfield walked, Zmejkoski singled and Weatherbee was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Blaser picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk, scoring Winfield, to extend the lead back to two, 7-5. Lunsford then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Zmejkoski for the 8-5 lead. After an intentional walk to Montz loaded the bases, Dupont hit a two-RBI single to right, bringing in Weatherbee and Blaser for the 10-5 lead.
 
Seay settled in on the mound for ULM, while Cameron O'Banan, Jack Stroud and Cameron Bush shut down the Warhawk offense out of the Texas State bullpen, keeping the score at 10-5 until the eighth inning.
 
The Bobcats drew closer in the eighth inning, as Tyler Garritano and Ethan Farris hit back-to-back two-out singles, forcing a Warhawk pitching change from Justin Robinson to Chipper Menard. Pinch hitter Rashawn Galloway then hit a 3-run home run for Texas State to cut the deficit to two, 10-8.
 
However, Menard retired August Ramirez to end the eighth inning and worked a perfect ninth inning to close out the win for ULM.
 
Zmejkoski had three hits and scored twice for ULM, while Easton Winfield had two hits, three runs scored and one walk, Weatherbee had two hits, including an RBI and a run scored and Bryce Blaser had two hits, one RBI, two runs scored and a walk. Montz had four RBIs while Lunsford and Dupont each drove in two runs.
 
Texas State was paced offensively by two hits and two RBIs by Manning and two hits and an RBI from Patino. Galloway led the team with three RBIs.
 
On the mound, Blanchard (2-3) was credited with the win in a designated short start, throwing three-plus innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Seay worked three shutout innings with two hits, one walk and a season-high matching five strikeouts.
 
For Texas State, Hall (1-4) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits with one strikeout over 1 2/3 innings. O'Banan, Stroud and Bush combined to throw four shutout innings to close the game for the Bobcats.
 
ULM and Texas State conclude the series at 12 p.m. Sunday at Lou St. Amant Field.