Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CARROLLTON, Ga. – Dan Oberst went berserk with his bat at the ol' ballpark on Saturday.

The University of West Georgia senior first baseman ignited a sweep of West Alabama to open the Gulf South Conference series at Cole Field, blasting the go-ahead, three-run home run in the opener and following it up with a grand finale in the nightcap.

On the heels of a dramatic, 10-7 Game 1 victory, Oberst proved he was merely warming up. The Largo, Florida, native stamped the exclamation point on his career day with a grand slam and two-run smash in the nightcap to spark the 9-8 victory, capping off a day that saw him go a combined 5-for-7 with two walks, a triple, three home runs, five runs scored and nine RBI.

Needless to say, UWG head coach Jeff Smith was quite the fan of his senior standout on Saturday.

"Dan, just a great day. It was outstanding that he would come up big for us like that in a doubleheader today against West Alabama," Smith said.

Game 2
Fresh off his three-run bomb to secure the Game 1 win, Oberst went right back to work, tripling in the bottom of the first and scoring on an RBI groundout by sophomore second baseman Brody Wortham to give West Georgia (9-9, 9-8 GSC) the early edge.

In his next at-bat with the bases juiced, Oberst clobbered a ball over the left-field fence for a 5-0 lead, which was followed by an RBI double from senior catcher Lane Griffith a few batters later.

One inning later, Oberst connected on a two-run shot to put the Wolves up 8-1, but the visitors battled back to make things tight down the stretch.

The Tigers (8-10, 6-9) scored a single run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull within 8-4. Following an RBI sacrifice fly by UWG junior third baseman Collin Moore, West Alabama put up a three-spot in the seventh and added another run in the eighth for the 9-8 tally.

Smith summoned UWG sophomore reliever Peyton Berry, who retired the final six batters in order, three of which came by strikeout, to seal the sweep.

Freshman starter Andrew Smith earned the win, tossing 6.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

"Andrew gave us a quality start. That's what we're looking for from our starters every time out. He was able to get through that fifth, sixth inning and it was huge for us," Smith said. "We were able to piece a few things together on the mound and it was big for Peyton Berry to come in and close it out."

Oberst (3-for-5, 3B, 2 HR, 3 runs, 6 RBI), shortstop Cody Mish (3-for-3, BB, SB, 2B, 3 runs) and sophomore designated hitter Joe Skinner (2-for-3, run) had multiple-hit performances in the nightcap on Saturday.

Game 1
Oberst began his offensive barrage by delivering the big shot in the opener, connecting on the go-ahead, three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to put UWG up 9-7 after trailing 7-5 through six innings.

Griffith pulled the Wolves within one on his third hit of the game with an RBI double in the seventh, setting the stage for Oberst's heroics an inning later. Junior left fielder Ethan Brant tacked on an insurance run with an RBI double for the three-run margin.

Senior Sawyer Steele earned the win with three innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Sophomore Jenson Barker picked up the save by coming in with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, inducing a groundout to first base to seal the deal.

"The thing is, I've told guys like Sawyer and Peyton Berry, our closing opportunity may be in the sixth, seventh inning and not necessarily in the ninth," Smith said. "Sawyer came in and he was huge for us to get those shutout innings that he was able to throw there."

West Georgia jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first after Wortham connected on an RBI single, followed by a two-out, RBI base knock by Brant.

The Tigers answered with three runs in the top of the second, but the Wolves recaptured the lead in the home half with Skinner starting the rally with a leadoff single and scoring on a wild pitch, while junior center fielder Jason Fointno was able to score on a double-steal attempt.

After the Tigers pulled even in the third, Griffith belted a solo blast in the bottom of the inning for the 5-4 UWG lead, but UWA shortstop Jake Nemith countered with a bases-empty bomb of his own in the fourth to make it a 5-5 affair.

West Alabama plated a pair of runs in the fifth and was able to escape a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth before the bats of Griffith, Oberst and Brant came through in the clutch during the late innings.

Griffith (3-for-5, 2B, HR, run, 2 RBI), Oberst (2-for-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 runs, 3 RBI), Fointno (2-for-3, BB, 2 runs), Brant (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) and Wortham (2-for-5, 2B, run, RBI) had multiple-hit efforts for the Wolves in Game 1.

The Wolves will go for the series sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m. back at Cole Field, which would serve as a major shot of momentum to kick off the seven-game homestand.

"It would be great. It would be huge for us. We're going to start Robert Coleman, and we've still got Peyton Berry, Jenson Barker. We've still got several arms that we have there available for us. But we're looking for Robert to go out and give us a quality start tomorrow and our offense to keep clicking," Smith said. "If we can come away with a sweep, that would be huge for this team, as far as the conference standings go and for their confidence."