Last week the Warhawk baseball team divided their roster into Grey and Maroon teams for their annual intrasquad fall matchup, known as the “Blood Series.”

It was a five game series that spanned from Saturday Oct. 19 to Oct. 26 with the Grey team winning the series 4-1.

The series is an opportunity for incoming freshmen to test their skills at the collegiate level for the first time as well as for veteran players to shake off the rust for the soon approaching season.

The series is dubbed as the “Blood Series” because the members of the losing team will have to donate blood to a local blood bank.

“We had a great fall. Some of us improved tremendously from the beginning of the fall,” said head coach Jeff Schexnaider.

“We have some new faces and they’re learning a new system and they did a great job with it.”

Game one of the series went to the Grey team in a 5-1 win over the Maroon team. Chad Miller pitched a complete game allowing six hits.

Schexnaider said he looks for visible improvement from his team offensively.

“I think we’re going to be a little more physical on offense this year,” Schexnaider said.

Junior, Justin Stawychny is expected to be a key piece in the offensive machine.

“We struggled hitting last year and putting up a lot of runs,” said Stawychny. “We’re gonna hit.”

The second, third and fifth games also went in favor of the Grey team by scores of 5-4, 14-7, and 6-3. Winning three games out of five, the Grey team won the series before the final two games were played.

“We’re going to be a little bigger, a little faster and a little stronger. We’re going to need it,” Schexnaider said. “Hopefully we’ll get back on top of this conference.”

The games featured guest coaches for both teams, which included the likes of ULM President Nick Bruno, local sports radio personality Nick White and former baseball coach George Luffey.

This will be the team’s closest simulation to real action before the season starts next year on Valentine’s Day in Monroe against Grand Canyon.