Carrollton, GA - With eight games left in the 2011 season, the West Georgia baseball team is not yet out of the hunt for the postseason, and the final push for a bid begins Friday at Cole Field, as the Wolves play host to Alabama-Huntsville on Senior Weekend.
The Wolves would need a lot of help in order to get to the postseason, but with two weekends remaining, head coach
Skip Fite's squad have given themselves some breathing room. And if recent play is any indicator, the West Georgia team that will take the field against Alabama-Huntsville on Friday afternoon at Cole Field is vastly different than the one that took the field in Huntsville, AL for the first Gulf South Conference games of the year in early March.
The postseason came back into the picture last weekend, as the Wolves rallied against West Alabama to take the final two games of the three-game series and put themselves back into contention. Coming into this weekend, the Wolves have a 16-25 record overall and 3-11 in GSC play.
The Wolves have had a solid run over the past 10 games, going 7-3 in that span. #
Stuart Drew# has continued his All-American caliber season by hitting .500 in that span with 12 runs scored. Catcher #
David Buchanan# and first baseman #
Andy Marinelli# have also been solid, as that pair have both hit .432 in that span.
Marinelli has been the power in the lineup all season long and has added three home runs and 13 RBI in the past 10 games. Freshman #
Justin Croft# and junior #
Garrett May# have also provided pop in the lineup, as Croft has 10 extra base hits and May has four home runs in that span.
As good as the hitting has been this season, the wins against West Alabama were all about the UWG pitching staff, specifically #
Jarod Slaven# and #
Jamie Sexton#.
Slaven got the ball from Fite in the second game last Saturday and was given the unenviable task of following an 18-4 loss. The senior was unfazed, as he allowed just one hit in a complete-game victory, leading the Wolves to a 2-1 win.
On Sunday, the Wolves found themselves down 6-0 early and got a masterful performance out of Sexton. The freshman went 8 1/3 innings in relief, striking out 9 and allowing West Georgia to come from behind for an 11-8 victory in the rubber game of the series.
Alabama-Huntsville comes into Sunday's contest at 26-16 on the year and the Chargers currently sit in third place in the GSC East with a 7-7 record in conference play.
The Chargers are hitting .323 on the season as a team and feature one of the top hitters in the Gulf South Conference in Grant DeBruin, who is hitting .400 on the season with four home runs, two triples and 40 RBI.
The first meeting between the two teams came on March 6 in a doubleheader in Huntsville, with the Chargers taking both ends 11-8 and 2-1. Slaven allowed just two runs on three hits, but none of the runs were earned in the 2-1 loss. In the first game, the Chargers knocked around #
Brandon Crumbley# and #
Jarrod Parker# for 11 runs as the Wolves lost 11-8.
First pitch on Friday is slated for 2 p.m. with a doubleheader on deck to begin the holiday weekend. On Saturday, the two teams will kick off again at 2 p.m. with Senior Day festivities to come prior to the first pitch.
