Quick start pushes Warhawks past Northwestern State, 5-2

MONROE, La. – The ULM pitching staff limited Northwestern State to just three hits while the Wiley Cleland and Mason Holt paced the Warhawk offense in a 5-2 opening night win over Northwestern State Wednesday at Warhawk Field.

Cleland had three hits and three RBIs while Holt had two hits, including a solo home run. Cam Barlow (1-0) threw four scoreless and hitless innings with a career-high seven strikeouts for his first win of 2021 for ULM.

After Barlow retired the Demons in order on just nine pitches in the top of the first inning, the Warhawks wasted little time in going to work in the bottom of the inning.

Holt blasted a solo home run over the left field wall for the 1-0 lead. Andrew Beesley followed with a hustle double on a bloop hit to left-center field. Cleland’s first hit of the day moved Beesley to third base. On a 3-1 pitch to Ryan Humeniuk, Cleland broke for second base. The pitch missed the strike zone for ball, giving Humeniuk a base on balls and forcing Cleland to second base. Northwestern State catcher Marshall Skinner threw down to second base with Cleland on the move. Beesley broke for home as soon as Skinner released the ball and slid home safely ahead of the return throw to the plate to collect the steal and a 2-0 lead.

ULM added to the lead in the third inning. Mason Holt opened the inning with a single to left. He promptly stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. After Beesley walked, Cleland reached on a fielder’s choice to score Holt for the 3-0 advantage.

The Warhawks tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning. Holt battled back to earn a one-out walk before Beesley walked on four pitches. A wild pitch allowed Holt to move to third and Beesley to head to second. With the infield drawn in, Cleland hit a high chopper on the infield which hopped over NSU shortstop Cam Sibley’s head and into left field, scoring both Holt and Beesley for the 5-0 lead.

After Barlow shut down the Demons for four innings, Trey Lindsay threw two scoreless innings while Carson Orton fired a perfect frame in the seventh.

Northwestern State put runs on the board in the eighth inning. Leni Kunert and Jeffrey Elkins were each hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Sibley reached on an error to load the bases with nobody out. Daunte Stewart picked up a 2-RBI double into the left-center gap to cut the ULM lead to 5-2. ULM pitcher Steve Owings then induced a shallow pop up and a successful pick play and strikeout brought a quick end to the inning with the Warhawks still up 5-2.

Down to their final out, former Warhawk Cameron Horton hit a triple for Northwestern State. Kunert was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners before ULM’s Reid Goleman struck out Elkins to end the game.

ULM heads on the road for the first time in 2021 for a weekend series at New Orleans. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Links to live video, audio and stats for the weekend series are available on the baseball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.