The ULM Warhawks baseball fell just short in the opening game of their three-game road series against the UT Arlington Mavericks baseball, losing 4–3 on a walk-off hit Friday night.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first two innings as pitchers on both sides kept the offenses quiet. But in the bottom of the third inning the Mavericks broke the tie in when Jackson Hill reached base and later scored on an RBI single by Preston Knott to give the Mavericks a 1–0 lead. Later in the inning, a defensive error allowed another run to score, extending the Mavericks’ advantage to 2–0.
ULM answered back in the sixth inning. When Jake Haggard reached base and eventually scored when Marcus Aranda delivered an RBI single through the left side, cutting the deficit to 2–1. The Warhawks continued to fight late in the game and mounted a rally in the ninth inning. Kade Dupont reached base before Aranda singled to put runners in scoring position. Zach White then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in the tying run, and Jackson Landry followed with an RBI single that evened the game at 3–3.
However, the Mavericks responded in the bottom of the ninth. After placing a runner on base, Xander McAfee lined a walk-off single down the left field line to score the winning run and secure the 4–3 victory for UT Arlington in the series opener.
In the second game of the series, the Warhawks once again jumped out to an early lead but were unable to contain the Mavericks baseball offense, falling 9–5 on Saturday.
ULM started quickly in the top of the first inning. Davis Mauzy opened with a single and later scored after Jake Haggard grounded out to bring in the game’s first run. Marcus Aranda followed with an RBI single through the left side to give the Warhawks a 2–0 advantage.
The Mavericks responded in the bottom of the first when Zach Mazoch drove in a run with a single. The Mavericks then took control in the second inning after Caylon Dygert launched a two-run home run to deep center field, putting Arlington ahead. Xavier Melendez later added an RBI single to extend the lead.
The Warhawks continued to battle back. Zach White delivered an RBI double in the third inning, and Aranda drove in another run with a single in the fourth to tie the game at 4–4. However, the Mavericks answered once again in the bottom of the fourth with RBI hits from Melendez and Ethan Ho to regain the lead.
UT Arlington added several insurance runs over the next few innings to stretch the score. ULM managed one more run in the eighth inning, but the comeback attempt fell short as the Mavericks secured the 9–5 victory in Game 2 of the series.
In the final game of the series, the Warhawks bounced back in dominant fashion, defeating UT Arlington 12–2 to avoid a series sweep. After a quiet start from both teams, ULM broke the game open in the fourth inning. Haggard sparked the offense with a two-run home run to left field, and later in the inning Garrett Wiethorn followed with a three-run homer that pushed the Warhawks to a 5–0 lead.
ULM continued to add runs in the fifth when White delivered an RBI single to extend the advantage. UT Arlington managed to score in the sixth and seventh innings to cut the deficit, but the Warhawks responded with a huge eighth inning. Landry drove in two runs with a triple to deep right field, and Dupont added a two-run double down the left field line as ULM scored five runs in the inning to pull away. Wiethorn added another home run in the ninth to cap off the scoring as the Warhawks secured a convincing 12–2 victory in the series finale.
