CLINTON, Miss. – The old adage that good pitching will beat good hitting rang true on Saturday afternoon at Frierson Field.
After belting out a combined 32 hits in a sweep of a twin bill less than 24 hours earlier, the University of West Georgia baseball team's bats went cold in the series finale at Mississippi College, resulting in an 11-0 Gulf South Conference setback.
The Wolves (12-15, 11-13 GSC) connected on just four hits against Choctaw starter Bryce Lewis, who tossed the complete-game shutout with two walks and two strikeouts. Only one UWG base-runner reached scoring position the entire game.
Lewis faced the minimum through four, yielding a leadoff walk to the first batter he faced, UWG sophomore shortstop
Brody Wortham, but the Choctaws (9-15, 6-13) used an inning-ending double play on a line drive by junior third baseman
Collin Moore.
From there, Lewis retired the side in order in the second through the fourth until freshman catcher
Jackson Webb recorded the first hit of the day for the Wolves with a leadoff single in the fifth. Senior designated hitter
Lane Griffith followed with a two-out single to move Webb to second, but that's as close as the visitors would get to scoring on Saturday.
Senior left fielder
Dan Oberst added a two-out single in the sixth inning and sophomore first baseman
Joe Skinner singled in the seventh for UWG's third and fourth hits of the day.
The Choctaws plated their 11 runs on 10 hits, seven walks and three errors, as it was a tough all-around day for the Wolves.
MC scored in each of the first five innings, including 3-spots in the first and fourth, to take control of the contest.
The silver lining for West Georgia is the fact that it still won the overall series behind the two triumphs on Friday, something it can build on heading into next week's GSC series against Union back at Cole Field. The series against the Bulldogs begins with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday with a 1 p.m. finale on Sunday.
