CARROLLTON, Ga. – The UWG baseball failed to complete the series sweep on Sunday after a 6-5 loss to the West Alabama Tigers.
West Georgia (6-2, 2-1 GSC) surrendered 12 hits, six runs, and struck out eight times at the plate, leading to their first loss in GSC this season.
"I don't think that we pitched to our potential," said head coach
Jeff Smith. "I thought we walked too many guys and hit too many guys, and that's something that we will clean up this week in practice."
Carson Crossley got the start for the Wolves and two batters in, the right-hander found himself in trouble after back-to-back doubles from West Alabama gave the Tigers an early lead. One run would be all that West Alabama would get in the first as Crossley settled down to get out of the jam.
In the second inning, The Tigers added one more to extend their lead to 2-0 after the Wolves left two on base in their half of the first.
After UWG failed to push their first run across in the second,
Jake Jordan came in to relive Crossley after West Alabama hit their third double of the game. Jordan inherited a runner on second with one out and soon after, the Tigers loaded the bases with still one out until the junior turned a 1-2-3 double play to get out of the inning unscathed.
West Georgia pushed their first run across in the bottom of the third courtesy of a
Cade Hohl RBI-Double that scored
Tyler Presnell, but that's all the Wolves would get as they left two runners on.
Pitching on both sides kept the offenses in check until the bottom of the fifth where UWG loaded the bases before a
Jared Emory walk and a
Logan Fink sacrifice fly gave West Georgia their first lead of the game at 3-2. Due up next was
Cooper Prince and he extended the Wolves' lead to two after lining an RBI-Single into left field.
Up 4-2 in the sixth, Jordan came out to pitch his fourth inning and ran into trouble as an RBI-single from West Alabama's Michael Rich cut the Wolves lead to one, leading to coach Smith making his second move to the bullpen.
Jack Rasmussen got the call and immediately surrendered an RBI-single, tying the game at four. The Tigers went on to score two more in the inning to take a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
Ryan Whitener got the call from the bullpen in the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings, before being relieved by
Ronny Piepmeier in the top of the ninth with the Wolves still trailing 6-4.
Piepmeier recorded the first strikeout of the game for UWG in the ninth and got through the inning with no issues, setting the stage for West Georgia's offense in the bottom half. Down by two with three outs to go,
Henry Daniels launched a solo home run to dead center to cut the deficit to one, but the Wolves couldn't muster up anymore offense as the Tigers went on to avoid the series sweep.
"I feel good about our team and our ability to win baseball games," Smith continued. "We've played eight games, won six, and we're already three games into conference season. It's still so early in the season and we have to continue to play error free baseball and continue doing the little things to not give our opponents any advantages."
Five different Wolves recorded RBIs in the game, led by
Jared Emory and
Cooper Prince who both recorded two hits.
West Georgia will be back in action on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. when they travel to Tuskegee for a non-conference matchup against the Tuskegee Golden Tigers.
