Carrollton, GA - The 2011 Gulf South Conference debut was spoiled Sunday afternoon for the West Georgia Wolves, as Alabama-Huntsville took both ends of a doubleheader in a rain-shortened series. The Chargers won the opener 11-9, then took the second game in a barnburner 2-1.
The two games were nearly polar opposites, as the Wolves pounded out 15 hits to UAH's nine in the first game. The second game featured a pitchers duel, with the two teams combining for just eight total hits in a hard-fought contest.
Juniors #Stuart Drew# and #Andy Marinelli# have become a potent 1-2 punch for the Wolves, and the pair kicked off the scoring in the first inning of the doubleheader, as Drew led off the game with a double. With one out in the inning, Marinelli singled, scoring Drew for the first run of the game.
After UAH scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, West Georgia came right back with #Michael Hollis# and #Bill Redmon# opening the second inning with a pair of singles. Two batters later, #Garrett May#'s sacrifice fly brought Hollis home and Drew followed with another double that brought home Redmon for a 3-2 lead.
In the third, fourth and fifth innings, the Chargers broke the game open with eight runs that put the game out of reach for the Wolves.
Drew was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI, while Marinelli was 2-for-4 with a run scored and four RBI. Freshman #Brandon Crumbley# was the starter and took the loss. #Walker White# worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings to close out the game.
The second game was an all-out pitcher's duel between UWG's #Jared Slaven# and UAH's #Ryan Griffin#. The Huntsville starter won the duel as the Wolves fell 2-1.
All of the scoring came in the first inning in that game, with things looking eerily simlar to the first game in concerns to the West Georgia scoring. Drew led off with a double, followed two batters later with a single from Marinelli for the only score of the game for UWG.
The Chargers took advantage of a few UWG miscues in the bottom of the first, as Slaven retired the first two batters, then induced a ground ball from the third batter. Drew handled it at second, but the throw went awry, setting up the Charger runs. Slaven hit the next two batters, followed by a two-run single from Eric Deese to take the lead.
That was all Griffin would need, as the UAH starter struck out eight Wolves and scattered three hits over the remaining six innings to take the victory. Slaven was equally good, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out seven over the final six innings in the loss.
Slaven falls to 1-3 on the season, but has been the strongest starter over the past two weeks. The Wolves fall to 7-10 on the year and 0-2 in GSC play. Next up for West Georgia is a single game against North Georgia on Tuesday at 5 p.m., followed by a single with Ohio Dominican on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Both games are at Cole Field.
