The Warhawks kicked off their season last weekend at the Best on the Bayou Classic. Gaining three dominating wins, ULM proved the best team is on the bayou. With one win on Friday over Mississippi Valley State and two wins on Saturday over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Morehead State, the Warhawks looked unbeatable. 

The true hero of Friday night was the LSU transfer freshman Victoria Abrams. In her first start as a Warhawk, Abrams threw a perfect game through four innings. After some trouble on the mound in the fifth, she was relieved by freshman Kinsey Kackley. Together, they combined to throw a no-hitter against the Devilletes. 

“Victoria did an incredible job setting the tone for the pitching staff this season,” ULM head coach Molly Fichtner said. “It was fun to watch and created excitement and energy for our program and fans.”

Offensively the Warhawks teamed up to score 13 runs in the run-rule victory. Five players had an RBI with senior Kennedy Page leading at the plate with three hits, one double and three RBIs. Freshman Gabby Davila also had an impressive performance in her collegiate debut with two hits, one home run and four RBIs. 

On Saturday, the Warhawks wrote much of the same story they did on Friday. 

SIUE scored first in the matchup, but ULM responded quickly at the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter freshman Lourdes Bacon got things moving for the Warhawks by getting an inside-the-park home run off a bunt single and an error by the third baseman. Freshman Alexis Chavez got an RBI single with two outs to plate another run for ULM to tie things up 2-2. 

Freshman Jacelyn Buck ended the scoring in the first inning with another run to give the Warhawks the lead at 3-2.

ULM continued to add to their lead, gaining a 6-2 win, but a two-run home run cut the lead to 6-4. Errors and walks were the downfalls for SIUE as all the Warhawks’ remaining runs came from them. The final score was 9-4. 

The last game of the day for ULM came against Morehead State. Sophomore Kassidy Giddens freshman Kinsey Kackley combined for a shutout run-rule victory over MSU.