No ball was safe Saturday afternoon at Warhawk Field as ULM tied a school record with seven home runs in a 25-10 victory over Middle Tennessee securing its seventh Sun Belt Conference series victory in as many tries on the season.
The first inning set the tone for the game with ULM (26-12, 16-4 Sun
Belt) taking a 6-0 lead on the strength of four home runs. Ben Soignier, Dexter Fontenot, Ryan McMillian and Nick Maragas all took a ball out of the park in the opening frame.
Fontenot finished the game 5-for-5 with two home runs and seven RBIs and is 18-for-30 (.600) with six home runs, 21 RBIs and a 1.300 slugging percentage over the past seven games.
McMillan was 4-for-4 with four RBIs, A.J. Siggers was 3-for-5 scoring four times, Josh Chappell went 3-for-4 with three RBIs while Jon Prevost, Soignier and Maragas all recorded two hits.
Prevost and Kyle Suire also homered on the game for the Warhawks.
The Warhawks have now hit 63 home runs on the season in just 38 games and are just seven away from last years total which is the current school record.
ULM plated runs in seven of eight innings and had multiple runs in six innings. The 25 hits tie Wednesdays total against McNeese State for the most this season and the 25 runs are just three off the school record of 28 set in 1986 against Mississippi College.
Over the past seven games the Warhawks have exploded at the plate averaging 14.4 runs and 16.7 hits per game and have hit 20 home runs with a .726 slugging percentage.
In four games this week, ULM is averaging 15.5 runs and 18.0 hits a game with 14 homers and a .802 slugging percentage.
Kyle Smith (2-1) picked up his second victory of the week tossing three innings in relief of starter Drew Graham. Smith allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out two.
Brad Robinson (2-4) didn?t make it out of the first inning for the Blue Raiders (20-16-1, 9-10) allowing six runs on five hits.
The teams wrap up the three-game series tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with the Warhawks going for their third Sun Belt sweep of the season.