JONESBORO, Ark. -- Daniel Gonzalez tossed his third quality start of the season, allowing just one run in six innings, and the ULM offense scored eight runs on 10 hits as the ULM baseball team (12-15, 2-6 Sun Belt) evened the series with an 8-2 win at Arkansas State (12-14, 3-5) on Saturday (March 29) night at Tomlinson Stadium.
After both teams went down in order in the opening inning,
Kade Dupont became the first hitter to reach base from a hit by pitch. The Warhawks quickly loaded the bases after
Angelo Aleman and
Major Brignon drew walks. In his first plate appearance back from an injury,
Colby Lunsford worked a four-pitch walk to give ULM an early 1-0 lead. Gonzalez struck out his first batter for the final out of a 1-2-3 second inning. ULM recorded a trio of singles in the third inning from
Henry Garcia Jr.,
Michelle Artzberger and Dupont, but the Red Wolves prevented the Warhawks from crossing home plate. Gonzalez continued to deal on the bump and tossed another three up, three down inning that featured a diving catch by
Isaiah Walker in center field.
Lunsford and
Tony Lindwedel singled with one out in the fourth inning. With two outs in the inning,
Bryce Blaser pulled the first pitch of his at bat down the right field line that scored Lunsford and doubled ULM's advantage. Wil French was A-State's first base runner to reach with a walk, but Gonzalez caught French attempting to steal third for the first out of the inning. Another Arkansas State player singled with two outs, but Gonzalez completed his fourth scoreless inning after a fly out ended the inning. Dupont reached on an error and stole second base for ULM's only base runner of the fifth. A lineout double play turned by Aleman cleared the bases with two quick outs in the fifth. After a single by A-State, Gonzalez maintained the shutout by recording a fly out to right and kept ULM in front, 2-0.
Walker reached base on a hit by pitch and immediately swiped second and third to move into scoring position. After a Blaser walk, Garcia poked a single that plated Walker and extended the Warhawks' lead, 3-0. Artzberger kept the line moving with an RBI double down the left field line that scored Blaser. ULM added two more runs from a throwing error by Arkansas State. ULM's big inning concluded after Dupont avoided a tag at the plate on a bunt and the Warhawks padded the lead to 7-0. Three Red Wolves reached base in the sixth after Gonzalez's third strikeout of the game. The Red Wolves scored their first run after ULM traded a run for an out on a fielder's choice for the second out. Gonzalez ended the Arkansas State scoring threat by firing his fourth punchout of the night on his 84th pitch to complete a quality start.
ULM increased its lead in the top of the eighth inning when Dupont doubled for his second hit of the night. With two outs in the inning, Brignon lifted an RBI double to right, which was his first collegiate RBI after Dupont scored to make the count 8-1 Warhawks.
Aidan Haynes, who threw a shutout seventh inning, induced a 3-6-1 double play to end the eighth inning with the Warhawks holding a seven-run cushion. A-State scored a run in the ninth, but Haynes finished the job and completed the save that gave ULM an 8-2 victory.
Garcia Jr., Artzberger and Dupont all racked up multi-hit games and combined for six of the 10 ULM base knocks. ULM hit three doubles from Artzberger, Dupont and Brignon and stole three bases with two from Walker and one from Dupont. Dupont successfully reached base four times with two hits and two hit by pitches. Blaser, Brignon, Lunsford and Lindwedel all picked up one single.
Gonzalez improved his record to 2-1 on the season after earning the win. He navigated five scoreless inning and completed six innings, allowing just one run and four hits while striking out four. Haynes recorded his first save of the season after completing three innings out of the bullpen and striking out three without surrendering an earned run.
The ULM offense hit .316 (6-for-19) with runners on and limited the Red Wolves to zero hits (0-for-11) with traffic on the bases. The Warhawks cashed in on four hits with runners in scoring position. ULM left 12 runners on base while Arkansas State stranded seven.
The series finale between the Warhawks and Red Wolves has been pushed up to noon tomorrow (March 30) due to forecasted storms moving into Jonesboro late in the afternoon.
