CARROLLTON, Ga. – It was a perfect Sunday for softball and the Wolves took advantage as UWG swept a doubleheader over Union, completing the three-game Gulf South Conference series sweep.
 
It took nine innings and a walk-off grand slam in game one to clinch the series victory, and the Wolves then came back for a one-run victory in the finale behind six innings of solid work from senior lefty Katie Foote.
 
It's the fourth sweep of the season for West Georgia, who improved to 20-8 overall and 16-5 in GSC play. Prior to this season, UWG had never completed more than two series sweeps in a single season since the GSC went to a three-game series model in 2014.
 
Game One
West Georgia got on the board in the first inning as Alley Taylor doubled home Kristyn Nix to give UWG starter Morgan Goree a 1-0 lead.
 
Senior Ashley Ellison then made it a 2-0 lead in the fourth as her singled home Madison Slappey.
 
It appeared that was all Goree would need, but in the top of the seventh, a walk, a hit by pitch, two hits, an error, and a wild pitch would push across three Bulldog runs as Union took their first lead of the series.
 
West Georgia then rallied for a run of their own in the seventh, using back-to-back singles from Ellison and Nix and an RBI double by Kayla Hughes to tie things up at 3-3.
 
The Wolves loaded the bases in the eighth and couldn't push a run across as Union turned a double play to get out of the jam in the eighth, but would have no such luck in the ninth.
 
Hughes roped a one-out single, and after Sydney Seymour pinch ran for her, she took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on an Alley Taylor single. Taylor would then steal second and Chandler Mevis would draw a walk, brining up Lexi Close who picked on opportune time for her 20^th career home run.
 
Close belted the pitch to deep center and over the wall to propel the Wolves to a 7-3 victory, giving her two grand slams this season. The Hillsboro, Missouri native becomes the eighth member of the 20-career home run club in school history.
 
Goree pitched all nine innings, striking out 12 batters in the process. The Senoia native tossed 148 pitches on the day and was extremely solid in extra innings, tossing perfect frames in the eighth and ninth.
 
West Georgia had 10 hits in the game including three from Kayla Hughes. Fellow seniors Ellison, Taylor, and Close also had two hits and combined for six RBI including the four from Close's grand slam.
 
Game Two
Al Thomas went to senior Katie Foote in game two and got a solid performance as she tossed six innings and gave up just three runs total and two earned.
 
West Georgia got on the board in the second, as Close was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Later in the frame, UWG scored a run on what could have been the strangest double play ever recorded. With the bases still loaded, Leslie Brogden popped one up on the infield, which was called an infield fly and then misplayed. The runners advanced and one scored while one was thrown out at third.
 
A leadoff triple by Alyssa Ward and a Sarah Smith sac-fly provided a third inning run for the Bulldogs, cutting the lead in half.
 
But it was Hughes continuing her solid day overall in the bottom half as she homered to centerfield, scoring two as Kristyn Nix had reached on a hustle double.
 
Union got two runs in sixth on an error and a blast from Mackenzi David, making it a one-run game.
 
Lexi Close came on in relief in the seventh, inducing a ground out, striking the next batter out, and then getting the third out on a fly ball to earn her GSC leading fourth save of the season.
 
The UWG bats were held to just three hits, but took advantage of three walks and three hit batters to earn their 20^th win of the season.
 
Up Next
The Wolves now have a huge series looming on the road against rival Valdosta State. UWG and VSU tangle in a three-game series beginning on Saturday in Valdosta.