Carrollton, GA - West Georgia had a roller coaster of an afternoon at Cole Field on Friday, as the Wolves fell 13-3 to Alabama-Huntsville in eight innings in the opener of the final home series of the 2011 season, then took down the Chargers 5-0 in the nightcap.
Since his return from a pulled ribcage muscle, senior #Jared Slaven# has been on fire on the mound for head coach
Skip Fite. In his past three starts, Slaven is 3-0 with an 0.86 ERA and has thrown three complete games, allowing two runs on 10 hits while striking out 15.
Friday was no different for Slaven, as he started game two after his team suffered a seemingly crushing defeat and shut down the Chargers for the shutout victory. Slaven was masterful, allowing no runs on three hits and picking up four strikeouts.
The Wolves gave Slaven all the run support he needed in the first inning.
As has become the norm this season, junior #
Stuart Drew# opened the game by getting on base, this time by being hit by a pitch. After he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from #
Brett Wright#, junior first baseman #
Andy Marinelli# doubled to right field for the first run of the game.
After #
Justin Croft# moved Marinelli to third with a single, catcher #
David Buchanan# drove in the second run by reaching on a fielder's choice. #
Bradford Mattox# followed with a double, then two #
Michael Hollis# closed out the scoring in the first inning with a single to right-center, scoring Mattox and Buchanan.
Wright scored the final run of the game in the fifth on a sacrifice fly. That brought home Drew, who tripled to lead off the inning. Drew was 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored and Marinelli went 2-for-3 in the contest to lead the UWG offensive attack.
In the opener, West Georgia starting pitcher #
Jamie Sexton# fell victim to a few defensive blunders by the Wolves, as the freshman allowed nine of the Chargers' 13 runs in 5.1 innings of work, but due to four UWG errors, only two of the runs were earned.
The Wolves move to 17-26 on the season and 4-12 in the Gulf South Conference while UAH moves to 27-17 and 8-8 in the GSC East. The same two teams close out the series on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Cole Field.
