BB G1 Final: Louisiana 9, ULM 5

[Jacob81]

Did ULM really lose to grambling 15-3??? We better bring some brooms this weekend.

[Scott Malkinson]

Did ULM really lose to grambling 15-3??? We better bring some brooms this weekend.

They also took ole miss to the wire ..don't look too hard into a midweek game

[RoarMan]

ULM softball just almost beat LSU.

[Jacob81]

Lose to grambling by 12 runs is unbelievable. When I first saw the score on warrennolan I thought maybe they had the score backwards.

[moorecajun]

Don't be fooled.

[RaginDave]

ULM is an enigma this season. They are not as bad as the loss to Grambling and they are not as good as the win vs Ole Miss and/or Oklahoma State.

Look at this team in a vacuum, they are 10-11, they did beat Grambling in a mid week game earlier in the season 9-1. They won 1 of 3 vs Ole Miss and took a midweek game from Oklahoma Stae. They won 2 of 3 from their first conference opponent Georgia State (they are not that good and 1 of 3 on the weekend vs a better Texas State team. So they come into conference play at 3-3. All the game vs Georgia State and Texas State were close (GSU 3-4, 3-1 and 9-7) (TSU 6-5, 5-6 and 1-4). Those two wins vs OSU and Ole Miss are by far their best wins of the season, the better teams they have played have pretty much owned them, they lost two to La Tech, 2 of 3 to UNO and 1 of 3 to Nicholls.

They are hitting .263 as a team, but they have 4 regulars that are batting over .300, led by Michael Cervantes and Ryan Humeniuk who are hitting .327 and .325 respectively. Their 9 regular guys are all batting over .200 (we can not say that). With 7 of them over .250. They are not a power hitting team as they only have 12 HR's on the season and their leader is at 3. To put these numbers in perspective, we are only hitting .243 on the season as a team, with only 2 regular guys hitting over .300. The difference is we have 21 HR's on the season and have 3 guys with at least 3. Including B-Fitz with 7, Kimple with 4 and Robertson with 3.

As a team ULM is struggling on the mound, they have a team ERA 5.23. Their best regular starter is Tyler Lien who is 3-0 with an ERA of 4.24, then Ty Barnes with 1-1 record and an ERA of 4.43 and finally Cam Barlow who is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.91. They only have 1 pitcher with a sub 3.00 ERA and only 3 with sub 4.00 ERA's. They have 4 guys with ERA's above 10.00. Their batting average against is actually pretty good at .254, their big issue is the long ball (24 Homeruns given up) and walks, wild pitches and HBP. They have given up 75 walks, 30 Wild Pitches and 21 HBP. They are not solid in the field either as they have a team Fielding % of .964, we have a team fielding of .962 and believe me we are not a good fielding team.

The difference between these to teams is power and pitching. We have a team ERA of 3.71, nearly 1.5 better than ULM, we have only given up 16 HR's, our BA against is .213. We have 8 pitchers with sub 3.00 ERA's.

Bottom line is they can hit fairly well, but we need to get to their pen early and often. IF Spencer pitches like he can on Thursday and we get to their starter, it could be a long weekend for ULM.

[Turbine]

Good info

[ZoomZoom]

ULM softball just almost beat LSU.

Shouldn't that be "just ulmost beat LSU"?

[JayWalker]

ULM is an enigma this season. They are not as bad as the loss to Grambling and they are not as good as the win vs Ole Miss and/or Oklahoma State.

Look at this team in a vacuum, they are 10-11, they did beat Grambling in a mid week game earlier in the season 9-1. They won 1 of 3 vs Ole Miss and took a midweek game from Oklahoma Stae. They won 2 of 3 from their first conference opponent Georgia State (they are not that good and 1 of 3 on the weekend vs a better Texas State team. So they come into conference play at 3-3. All the game vs Georgia State and Texas State were close (GSU 3-4, 3-1 and 9-7) (TSU 6-5, 5-6 and 1-4). Those two wins vs OSU and Ole Miss are by far their best wins of the season, the better teams they have played have pretty much owned them, they lost two to La Tech, 2 of 3 to UNO and 1 of 3 to Nicholls.

They are hitting .263 as a team, but they have 4 regulars that are batting over .300, led by Michael Cervantes and Ryan Humeniuk who are hitting .327 and .325 respectively. Their 9 regular guys are all batting over .200 (we can not say that). With 7 of them over .250. They are not a power hitting team as they only have 12 HR's on the season and their leader is at 3. To put these numbers in perspective, we are only hitting .243 on the season as a team, with only 2 regular guys hitting over .300. The difference is we have 21 HR's on the season and have 3 guys with at least 3. Including B-Fitz with 7, Kimple with 4 and Robertson with 3.

As a team ULM is struggling on the mound, they have a team ERA 5.23. Their best regular starter is Tyler Lien who is 3-0 with an ERA of 4.24, then Ty Barnes with 1-1 record and an ERA of 4.43 and finally Cam Barlow who is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.91. They only have 1 pitcher with a sub 3.00 ERA and only 3 with sub 4.00 ERA's. They have 4 guys with ERA's above 10.00. Their batting average against is actually pretty good at .254, their big issue is the long ball (24 Homeruns given up) and walks, wild pitches and HBP. They have given up 75 walks, 30 Wild Pitches and 21 HBP. They are not solid in the field either as they have a team Fielding % of .964, we have a team fielding of .962 and believe me we are not a good fielding team.

The difference between these to teams is power and pitching. We have a team ERA of 3.71, nearly 1.5 better than ULM, we have only given up 16 HR's, our BA against is .213. We have 8 pitchers with sub 3.00 ERA's.

Bottom line is they can hit fairly well, but we need to get to their pen early and often. IF Spencer pitches like he can on Thursday and we get to their starter, it could be a long weekend for ULM.

This is a MUCH better team than the ones we've played in the last nine years. Federico has them playing hard and playing for nine innings. Their pitching isn't as good as ours, but they are just as good offensively as we are. They don't strike out nearly as much as we do. They lead the league in stolen bases. I think the team ERA is an anomaly. Their weekend guys are pretty good. Your ERA can get skewed with one bad outing.

Barlow has been named pitcher of the week earlier this year.

it's not all about stats. For the first time in years, ULM comes to the ball park with a chip on its shoulder and they expect to win. That in itself makes them dangerous. I've been talking about them on the broadcasts and I keep saying this isn't your daddy's ULM club. I think they are the league's most improved team. And, if you recall, two years ago they made a run through the conference tournament, being eliminated in the bracket final.

I think we will win the series. But those of you who think we'll sweep just by showing up are setting yourselves up for a big letdown.

[ULvictory]

This 7 game stretch is ripe for some momentum. Take at least 2 this weekend, take the Nicholls game, and take care of business next week at home against Arkansas State.

If we can win at least 5/7, we will be sitting with a minimum of a 19-13 record going into South Al.