MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The University of West Georgia baseball team suffered an 11-8 setback to Auburn Montgomery in the finale of a three-game Gulf South Conference set on Monday afternoon at the AUM Baseball Complex, but the Wolves still earned the series win overall by taking two out of three to open the 2021 diamond campaign.

Even though the Wolves (2-1, 2-1 GSC) experienced a few hiccups in Monday's matinee, UWG head coach Jeff Smith thought it was a productive start to the season for his ballclub.

"Anytime you can win a series, it's good. That's what we look to do each weekend," Smith said. "It's early in the season. We made a lot of mistakes (Monday) that we won't make two or three weeks from now. It gives us something to work on in the next week."

UWG, which won 8-3 and 6-4 decisions in Sunday's doubleheader, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 3 with single runs in the third and fourth frames.

Junior center fielder Jason Fointno did the damage by himself in the third, roping a two-out double to left-center, stealing third and scoring on an errant throw by the Warhawk catcher.

In the fourth, UWG sophomore designated hitter Jacob Holton blasted his first bomb in a West Georgia uniform, driving a solo shot over the left-field fence for the 2-0 lead.

AUM (1-2, 1-2) had the first of its two big innings of the contest in the home half of the fourth, plating six runs on three hits and two West Georgia errors to capture its first lead of the series at 6-2.

The Wolves answered in the top of the fifth, getting three of the runs back on four hits, including an RBI double by sophomore second baseman Brody Wortham, an RBI triple from senior first baseman Dan Oberst and an RBI single by junior third baseman Collin Moore in three consecutive at-bats.

West Georgia stranded the tying run at third in the top of the sixth and the Warhawks extended their lead, tacking on five runs on five hits for an 11-5 advantage entering the seventh.

The Wolves responded with another 3-spot in the seventh, getting the second triple in as many at-bats from Oberst to bring home a pair of runs and the UWG senior scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead in half at 11-8.

West Georgia had one last shot at a series sweep in its last at-bat, bringing the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth following a two-out single by sophomore Joe Skinner and a double by junior shortstop Joseph Hill. Unfortunately, AUM was able to register the 27^th out of the game and salvage the series finale.

Wortham (3-for-4, 2 runs, BB, 2B, RBI), Oberst (2-for-5, 2 3B, 2 runs, 3 RBI) and Hill (2-for-5, 2B) had multiple-hit efforts for the Wolves on Monday.

Smith was encouraged to see his offense step up and do its part in each instance after the Warhawks had their big inning.

"Offensively, we're playing well. We're scoring runs and having competitive at-bats. I thought (Monday) we made some crucial mistakes defensively and just didn't pitch as well as we did (Sunday)," Smith said.

The Wolves are right back at it on the road this weekend with a trip to Montevallo (1-2) for a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday at Bob Riesener Stadium. Saturday's twin bill starts at 2 p.m. with the finale slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday.

"They're going to pitch well, they're going to be competitive. Like everyone else in the conference, they're going to be prepared and ready to go. We'll just have to go out and compete and eliminate some of the mistakes we made this weekend," Smith said.