MONORE, La. – Eight scoreless frames after a two-run first inning drowned ULM baseball (20-18, 8-8 Sun Belt) in a 3-2 loss to Arkansas State (23-14, 8-8 Sun Belt) Friday night.
 
"We pitched well enough to win the game tonight," head coach Ford Pemberton said. "Offensively, we have to do a better job."
 
The Red Wolves started the game with a three-up, three-down inning, thanks in part to two strikeouts by Adam Brodnax. After two straight two-out singles by Jake Haggard and Bryce Blaser, a double steal allowed Haggard to score, giving ULM the 1-0 lead. Marcus Aranda singled to shallow left field as Blaser beat out the throw at home, extending the lead to two runs.
 
Cason Campbell got ASU on the board with a solo shot to right field, cutting the margin in half with a 2-1 score. Garrett Wiethorn singled to left with two outs and stole a base to get into scoring position, but a fly-out ended the inning and kept ULM ahead by a run going into the third.
 
Both teams were scoreless in the next two innings as the score remained 2-1 into the fifth. A leadoff double and a hit by pitch with one out put runners at the corners. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt allowed the runner from third to score, tying the game. A single through the left side scored another run and resulted in a 3-2 ASU lead. The Warhawks were blanked in the next three innings, with a Wiethorn hit being the only production.
 
Andrew Allen earned the win for the Red Wolves, pitching seven innings with six of them being scoreless.
 
"Give credit to him (Allen), he did a really good job," Pemberton said. "He threw a lot of competitive pitches throughout the game."
 
Brodnax and Tyler Roark kept the Red Wolves at bay with scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh innings. Despite being struck with the loss, Brodnax put forth a solid performance with six innings pitched and five strikeouts.
 
"I liked how Brodnax pitched tonight," Pemberton said. "He pitched well enough to give us a chance to win."
 
Roark entered again in the eighth and struck out two batters as the score remained at 3-2.
 
Davis Mauzy started the bottom of the eighth inning with a triple into the right-center field gap. Two straight strikeouts and a fly out to right ended the inning and kept the Warhawks behind by a run. Dayne Wray doubled with one out in the ninth, but two more outs ended the inning and the game.
 
The Warhawks are back tomorrow at noon and will attempt to even the series in game two.