Carrollton, GA - The University of West Georgia took on #23 ranked Florida Tech this evening in the first game of a three-game series at Cole Field and, fueled by a stellar effort on the mound from
Cody Skinner, came away with a 3-2 victory.
Skinner got the start for the Wolves, pitching his third complete game of the 2014 season, racking up eleven total strikeouts and coming away with his third win of the season. His strikeout total was a career-high for the senior and his previous high came in his first outing with UWG, when he had seven strikeouts on February 12, 2012 against Augusta State.
Florida Tech reached the scoreboard in the very first inning, as Andrew Bartlett led off the game with a leadoff single to right field. After a single advanced him to third base, Bartlett came in to score on a failed pickoff attempt.
The Wolves offense got going in the bottom of the third inning as they tallied two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
Cameron Eison, who was the designated hitter in the game, started off the inning with a leadoff single to left field. Eison was then able to move to third after two sacrifices.
Troy Brown then walked with two outs to have runners on the corners with two outs for
Sumner McWhorter. McWhorter came through with a clutch hit for UWG, doubling to left center scoring both runners on base and giving the Wolves the lead.
The Wolves continued their hot hitting in the bottom of the next inning as
Casey James led off the inning with a single to right field. A groundout to third base from
Andrew Witte allowed James to advance to second, and then Eison picked up his second hit of the day scoring James from second and giving the Wolves a 3-1 lead.
The Panthers were able to pick up one run in the top of the sixth inning, but the comeback was to no avail, as Skinner shut down Florida Tech in order in the seventh and eighth innings. Skinner then struck out two of three hitters in the ninth inning to put the game away.
Eison and Artemis Khadkhodian each had two hits on the afternoon, with Eison picking up an RBI and scoring a run. After the win, the Wolves move to 8-12 on the year and are now back to a .500 record at Cole Field. The Wolves will wrap-up the series with a doubleheader tomorrow against Florida Tech, with the first of the two games beginning at noon.
