Lien, bullpen dominant as Warhawks blank Jackson State, 2-0

MONROE, La. – In a match-up of the two top batting average teams in NCAA Division I baseball, the game came down to defense and pitching.

ULM used a two-out RBI double by Carson Klepzig and a two-out wild pitch to score Colin Gordon, along with a sterling pitching effort and solid defense, to defeat Jackson State, 2-0, Tuesday night at Warhawk Field.

The Warhawks closed its season-opening homestand with a 10-2 record, while Jackson State fell to 6-5.

ULM entered the game leading Division I with a .349 batting average and averaging 11.7 runs per game to lead the nation. The Warhawks had scored 10 or more runs in five games, and more than 20 runs in three games in the past 10 days. For ULM coach Michael Federico, it was nice to see his team win a game in a different way.

“The runs we’ve been putting up, that’s been awesome and I wish we could do that every day,” Federico said. “But, when it comes down to it, you’re going to see arms sometimes and it’s going to be hard to scratch and claw. Every day when you play a baseball game, if you can show up and pitch and play defense, you have a chance. We did that tonight.”

Warhawk starting pitcher Tyler Lien followed up a promising short start last week with a longer outing Tuesday night. Lien pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up just four hits while hitting one batter and striking out three in picking up his second win of the season.

“We got his pitch count to about 80, which is what I was hoping to do tonight,” Federico said. “He had a little bit of command of his fastball. It was getting in on some of those righties tonight. He was spinning the breaking ball pretty well and also getting some early action changeups that he was getting some weak contact with. He didn’t strike out as many as he did last week, but he was also getting some weak contact early. He got hit hard a little bit late, but again, we made some nice plays for him defensively.”

Dylan Marsh followed Lien out of the bullpen, and stranded an inherited runner by picking up a strikeout and a groundout to close the sixth inning. Landon Longsworth did not allow a hit over the final three innings, striking out two batters to pick up his fourth save.

The Warhawk defense was also sparkling behind the pitchers.

“We played a pretty clean defensive game,” Federico said. “Mason Holt made some really nice plays in center. Colin Gordon made a few nice plays. Danny (DeSimone) had a ton of fly ball action where Lien was beating some barrels a little bit and getting some weak fly balls in foul territory. We played defense. If you can do those things, you give yourself a chance. We’ve been rolling a little bit, but it’s good to win baseball games with a limited number of hits and also that close game.”

ULM scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the second inning. With two outs, Grant Schulz hit a slow roller on the infield and reached safely with an infield single. Klepzig followed by lacing a double down the left field line, just inside of the third base bag, to score Schulz from first base for the 1-0 lead.

The Warhawks had other opportunities to score, but came up short. Holt and Andrew Beesley worked back-to-back one-out walks in the third inning, but were stranded on base. In the fourth inning, ULM loaded the bases with one out, but Trace Henry grounded into an inning-ending double play.

ULM found the scoreboard again in the seventh inning. Gordon walked to open the inning, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Holt’s deep fly out to right field allowed Gordon to move up to third base. A wild pitch by Jackson State reliever Harry Colon allowed Gordon to score the insurance run, doubling ULM’s lead to 2-0.

Jackson State had just two base runners reach third base, each with two outs in the inning.

The Warhawks go on the road for the first time for a three-game series at McNeese State, starting at 6 p.m. Friday. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.