RUSTON, La. – The ULM baseball team (9-11) fell 6-2 in its first matchup of the season to Louisiana Tech (12-9) on Tuesday (March 18) night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in Ruston.
 
Louisiana Tech scored six unanswered runs in the first four innings, and ULM responded with a pair of runs in the fifth. The Warhawks' bullpen did not surrender a run in four innings of work. A trio of ULM fielding errors led to three unearned runs scored by the Bulldogs.
 
The Bulldogs put three runs on the scoreboard in the first inning after a two-out RBI bloop hit by Colton Coates and a two-run homer by Sebastian Mexico. The Warhawks strung two hits together with two outs in the second inning with hits from Jake Haggard and Michelle Artzberger, but Bulldogs' starting pitcher Kade Parker tossed his second strikeout of the night to end ULM's scoring threat. Brennan Eager completed a 1-2-3 bottom of the second and struck out two. Bryce Blaser singled and was ULM's lone baserunner in the third. Tech rallied with two outs and plated a pair of runs in the third after Mexico lined an 0-1 pitch to left center and extended the Bulldogs' lead to 5-0.
 
Haggard reached for the second time after drawing a walk with two outs in the top of the fourth. Tech scored its sixth run of the game on a Brody Drost triple and a fielding error. Eager completed his outing and his fourth inning of work by pitching his fifth strikeout and a ground out. The first two Warhawk hitters, Zach White and Kade Dupont, reached base in the fifth inning on hit by pitches. After a sacrifice bunt, Blaser poked a single through the left side for his second hit of the night and scored White for ULM's first run. Henry Garcia Jr. was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the second run of the inning. Logan Forsythe held the Warhawks to just two runs and fired a strikeout as ULM stranded three men on base. Aidan Haynes worked around a leadoff fielding error in a scoreless inning of work. Following a 1-2-3 inning for the Warhawks at the plate, Justin Robinson stranded a Tech runner at third base and kept ULM within four after six innings in the books.
 
Forsythe continued to deceive the ULM hitters and slung his second consecutive perfect inning in the seventh. Adam Tubbs entered the game on the mound for ULM and faced the minimum in a three up, three down bottom of the seventh. Louisiana Tech's Connor Nation quieted the ULM bats in the eighth with two strikeouts and a fly out. Tubbs secured the first out of the bottom half of the eighth and handed the baseball off to Zach Shaw. After Shaw pitched a strikeout, he evaded damage from two walks and kept Tech off the scoreboard in the eighth. Artzberger singled to leadoff the ninth and registered his second hit of the game. Nation regrouped and sat down the final three batters to preserve a 6-2 win for the home team.
 
ULM and Louisiana Tech will play the second game of three this season on April 15 at Lou St. Amant Field.
 
The Warhawks return to Sun Belt Conference action on Friday (March 21) and will welcome No. 19 Southern Miss to The Lou for the start of a three-game series. Friday's series opener will begin at 6 p.m.