ULM softball swept Lamar Thursday night in a doubleheader in Monroe.
After playing their last 21 games on the road, the Warhawks (13-14) were glad to be playing at home at the ULM Softball Complex.
“It was a great showing from our kids tonight, trying to put everything together. It was nice to get something going for ourselves,” head coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill said.
The first game of the doubleheader was dictated by the strong pitching and defensive efforts of the Warhawks. Haylie Wilson pitched all seven innings for ULM, allowing nine runs but only one earned run. The Warhawks went up 2-0 early and never looked back.
Haley McCall started the second inning off with a single to left, and followed that up by stealing second base.
Two more hits loaded the bases for ULM, allowing McCall to score on an error from the Lady Cardinals (11-15). Courtney Dutreix was hit by a pitch, bringing in the second run.
McKenzie Miller began her hot day in the fourth inning. After a Summer Melancon double, Miller followed with her own. Miller went on to steal third and home increasing the ULM lead to 4-0.
“I was just trying to do my job by getting on base. Good base-running gets the whole team excited,” Miller said.
Lamar would get on the board with a six-inning home run, only to be countered by a run from ULM. The final score of the first game of the doubleheader was 5-1 ULM.
The second game was similar to the first with the Warhawks jumping out to an early 1-0 first inning lead. A second-inning solo home run from the visitors tied the game up at 1-1. Another Lamar solo home run was hit in the third, giving the Lady Cardinals a 2-1.
An Alex Cacioppo double started what would be the biggest offensive inning for ULM. Janel Salanoa came up with a huge two-run home run to deep left center.
The Warhawks were able to push across one more run in the inning. The score after three innings was 4-2 in favor of ULM.
“It felt really good. This past week I had a death in the family,” Salanoa said. “My team had my back the whole time. I couldn’t be more thankful to have them by my side.”
Two more runs were scored in the fourth inning, capping off ULM’s offensive production on the day. The final score of the second game went on to be 6-3 ULM.
“We’re starting to click and it’s good. We need to be clicking before we go in and face any more conference games,” Holloway-Hill said. “We’ve prepared a tough non-conference schedule. We’ve played the best teams. Now, I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but we’re more prepared.”
ULM hits the road to face conference rival Troy on Saturday, March 23. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
