Courtesy: ulmwarhawks.com http://ulmwarhawks.com

MONROE, La.—ULM baseball head coach Jeff Schexnaider built on his already outstanding recruiting class with the signing of three additional student-athletes on Monday morning.  The Warhawks have now signed eight of the top high school and junior college players in the South.

 

RHP/UTL Taylor Abdalla of Loranger, La., (Loranger HS); RHP Wil Browning of Kosciusko, Miss., (Holmes CC) and RHP Stefen Comeaux of Breaux Bridge, La., (LSU-Eunice) all signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Warhawks beginning with the 2010 season.

 

The trio joins OF Skyler Barrentine of Lake Charles, La., (Sam Houston HS); RHP Luke Briley of Natchitoches, La., (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC);  SS Judd Edwards of Oxford, Ala., (Oxford HS); RHP Drew Granier of Thibodaux, La., (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) and OF Chris Grayson of Monroe, La., (Frank Phillips JC) who all signed with ULM last week.

 

“We are really excited about this class,” Schexnaider said.  “This is probably the most athletic class that we have signed since I have been here. It is a testament to our current and former players who helped rebuild this program and to our coaches that did a tremendous job evaluating this incoming group. They are all good student-athletes and will represent our community and ULM with class.”

 

Abdalla, a 6-foot-0 right-handed pitcher and utility player, was an all-conference and all-district selection at Loranger High School as a junior.  He hit .351 with six home runs and 18 doubles – over 45 percent of his hits went for extra bases.  Abdalla also flashed some speed stealing a team-high 24 bases.  A two-sport star, Abdalla is the Wolves starting quarterback.

 

“Taylor is a very athletic and versatile player,” Schexnaider said.  “He can play any position on the field and will provide us a lot of options because of that versatility.  He is a solid hitter, throws in the high 80s off the mound and is tough due to what he does on the football field.”

 

Browning, a 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher, logged 48.0 innings last season for Holmes CC posting a 3-3 record with a 5.83 ERA.  The Kosciusko, Miss., native struck out 36 batters in his rookie campaign with the Bulldogs and was named to the NJCAA Academic All-American Team.

 

“Wil is a hard-throwing righty that will provide stability to our staff immediately,” Schexnaider said.  “He comes from a good junior college program and should be one of their top starters this season.  Wil has a good breaking ball and is developing a solid changeup.”

 

Comeaux, a 6-foot-1 right-handed pitcher, posted a 5-1 record for the NJCAA National Champion LSU-Eunice Bengals last year.  He started 11 games striking out 52 batters in 52 innings of work, while issuing just 22 walks.

 

“Stefen is a proven winner and comes from one of the top junior college programs in the country,” Schexnaider said.  “He has a live fastball in the upper 80s and a nasty splitter that is his outpitch. Stefen is a great competitor and has the ability to be a top notch guy in the Sun Belt Conference.”

 

The Warhawks open the 2009 season on Feb. 20 when they host Northwestern State in the opening game of the ULM Warhawk Classic at Warhawk Field.

 

2008-09 ULM Baseball Signees