Carrollton, GA - West Georgia split a Friday doubleheader against the North Alabama Lions in Florence, Ala. The Wolves won game one easily, but lost in the bottom of the last inning of game two. The Wolves are now 8-1 on the year, with UNA at 6-3.
Game One
West Georgia struck early in the game as they scored two runs in the first inning.
Tyler Hutch singled to lead off the game and stole second. With two outs in the inning,
Garrett Hayes singled to score Hutch.
Dalton Rogers then doubled to drive in Hayes, giving the Wolves a 2-0 lead.
UWG once again struck in the top of the third as
Tyler Hutch and
Artemis Kadkhodaian hit back-to-back doubles to move the lead to 3-0. The Wolves scored again on a ground ball that
Dalton Rogers hit to first base, pushing Kadkhodaian across the plate for another UWG run.
The big inning of game one was the top of the fifth.
Tyler Hutch doubled to begin the inning, followed by a single from
Caleb Lopes to push the lead to 5-0. After a Garret Hayes single and an intentional walk to
Dalton Rogers the bases were loaded for
Drew Eady with two outs. Eady reached on an error scoring another run.
Chase Waters then singled to score two more runs before
Payton Mann smashed a three-run homerun for an 11-0 UWG lead headed to the bottom of the fifth.
UNA got a run in the bottom of the fifth on a homerun, but West Georgia responded with another run in the sixth on a
Dalton Rogers single that plated
Caleb Lopes.
In the seventh inning
Chase Waters walked and
Payton Mann doubled to put runners at second and third. This set up the final run of the game, a
Tyler Hutch sacrifice fly that plated Waters. That would end the game at 13-1 under the run rule.
Brandon Goldsmith got his third win on the year, pitching all seven innings of the shortened game. He gave up five hits and only one run, while striking out six.
Tyler Hutch and
Caleb Lopes each had three hits and an RBI.
Payton Mann had two hits, including a homerun and three RBIs.
Game Two
The first three innings of the game went by quick as both teams only had one hit through those innings. Starting pitcher
Colton Duttweiler struck out five batters in the first three innings of the game two.
The fourth inning was much like the first three as both teams struggled at the plate. The Wolves got a hit from
Garrett Hayes in the inning, but they were unable to drive him in. UNA got two on in the inning but also failed to score a run.
The Wolves finally broke through in the fifth inning.
Drew Eady started the inning getting hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a stolen base and error.
Ben Utley then singled, scoring Eady for the game's first run. The Wolves were able to load the bases, but left the inning with only the single run. UNA got two runners on in the bottom of the fifth, but
Dalton Reagin pitched UWG out of the jam.
The bottom of the seventh doomed UWG as UNA loaded the bases with no one out. A double play allowed one run to score, but left only one runner on base with the Wolves holding a 2-1 lead. Kevin Hall delivered the blow as he hit a two-run homerun for the walkoff win for UNA.
Mitchell Mannino suffers the loss for UWG.
Ben Utley was 2-3 with two RBIs in the second game of the series.
Up Next
Game three of the series will be tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST at Mike D. Lane Field in Florence, Ala. Updates will be available on Twitter at the Twitter handle @UWGAthletics.
