MONROE, La. – The ULM baseball team (9-12, 1-3 Sun Belt) fell to the SBC preseason favorites, Southern Miss (16-6, 3-1) in the Warhawks' home conference opener 8-5 on Friday (March 21) night at Lou St. Amant Field.
 
Golden Eagles' leadoff man Jake Cook legged out an infield single and kickstarted the USM offense. After a sacrifice bunt, Davis Gillespie drove in the first run of the ballgame with an RBI double to left center. Landon Grigg limited the damage and struck out his first batter to end the inning, with the Golden Eagles ahead 1-0. ULM leadoff hitter Isaiah Walker lined a base hit to center and later swiped second base with one out. Henry Garcia Jr. knocked in his 17^th RBI of the season after hitting a backside single through the right side, and ULM tied the game, 1-1. The Golden Eagles tallied a trio of hits in the top of the second and went back in front following a leadoff triple by Carson Paetow and an RBI groundout by Ben Higdon. Catcher Tony Lindwedel singled with two outs in the second inning for ULM's lone base runner of the inning. Grigg pitched a 1-2-3 third inning and fired his third strikeout of the night for out number two. On a 3-2 pitch, Walker served a fastball up the middle that rolled into center field for his second hit of the night. After a sacrifice bunt, Southern Miss starter JB Middleton kept the Warhawks from plating a run after tossing a strikeout and a groundout.
 
Grigg held USM scoreless for the second consecutive inning and worked around two base runners in the fourth. Middleton completed a three up, three down fourth inning on the bump for USM. The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth with a pair of two-out singles from Paetow and Tucker Stockman. After a scoreless bottom of the fifth for ULM, Grigg handed the ball off to Zach Shaw with one out in the top of the sixth. USM threatened with a runner in scoring position after a double. Shaw pitched out of the jam and kept ULM within three runs after a popout and a strikeout. Garcia Jr. reached on an infield single for his second hit of the night and was later caught stealing for the second out before Middleton sat down his fourth Warhawk on a strikeout as USM led 4-1 after six.
 
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Carson Paetow blasted his seventh home run of the season and increased the Golden Eagles' lead to 5-1. Michelle Artzberger walked and Jake Haggard singled to left to start the seventh for the Warhawks. After a sacrifice bunt, four Warhawks in a row worked walks that led to three runs with RBI walks by Jack Clark, Walker and Bryce Blaser. ULM was unable to tie the game as Southern Miss fired two strikeouts and led 5-4 after seven innings. Two Golden Eagles crossed the plate in the eighth on a Cook RBI hit and a balk. Kade Dupont singled in the eighth and Haggard scored on a wild pitch to bring the Warhawks within two heading to the ninth. A bases-loaded walk added another insurance run for the Golden Eagles in the ninth, and the Warhawks did not have a batter reach in the ninth.
 
Offensively for ULM, Walker and Garcia Jr. both swung for multi-hit games and each racked up an RBI. Haggard, Dupont and Lindwedel added one hit apiece as part of ULM's seven total hits. Grigg suffered the loss after throwing 5.1 innings pitched and allowing 10 hits, four runs and striking out five.
 
The Warhawks and Golden Eagles will play game two of the series tomorrow (March 22) at 2 p.m. from Lou St. Amant Field. The dedication of the Charles R. McDonald Stadium Club is set to begin at 1:30 p.m., before the game.