Opening day for baseball was a disappointment, but the team used that loss as fuel to propel it to a five game winning streak.  After losing the season opener to the University of Texas-San Antonio 11-6, the Warhawks managed to come back and win the series by sweeping the final two weekend games.

Following the series with the Roadrunners, ULM had a pair of mid-week home games against Tulane and #28 Southern Mississippi.  The Warhawks won both games and enjoyed a #1 RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) for their efforts.

The winning continued into the first match of a three game series versus Sam Houston State, but not without some difficulty.  Joey Rapp, who had a six game hitting streak entering last Friday’s game, had his streak snapped as he went 0-3 with three strikeouts and a walk.  The rest of the hitters did not fare much better as Les Aulds got the only hit in the game for ULM, but the resilient Warhawks would not give up.

“The key was matching their pitcher who did an outstanding job against us throwing a one-hitter,” head coach Jeff Schexnaider said.  “We never could find an answer for him, but credit to our Randy Zeigler who didn’t allow them to cross the plate either.”

Although the hitters struggled, pitcher Randy Zeigler was in command all night and threw seven innings of shutout baseball with eight strikeouts.  His dominant play kept the Warhawks in the game long enough for the offense to capitalize on defensive mistakes by the Bearkats and get two unearned runs across the plate.

“We had an opportunity to score one early and we left them out there,” Schexnaider said.   We gotta continue to execute offensively when we get the opportunity. But pitching and defense can show up every day.”

The Warhawks host the Nicholls State Colonels on Friday at 6 p.m.