CARROLLTON, Ga. - On a chilly opening day at Cole Field, the UWG baseball team split a twin bill with the Augusta Jaguars to open their 2023 campaign.
Game One: Augusta 11, UWG 2
Augusta got on the board in the very first inning following a two RBI single by Jordan Wilkie, and held the 2-0 lead until the sixth inning.
Following the two run first, starting pitcher
Bay Witcher settled into his first career start in Carrollton, finishing with five innings pitched, allowing just the two runs, allowing just six hits, no walks and five strikeouts.
"I thought Bay threw the ball well," said head coach
Jeff Smith. "I think it took him an inning or so to get settled in with him being new, but he has a ton of confidence and we have a ton of confidence in him."
Augusta added five insurance runs in the sixth inning after the first three batters of the inning reached base, including a two run home run by Harrison Aulds. After a hit by pitch and a single,
Ryan Whitener replaced Rasmussen to limit the damage. Whitener allowed just one more run to come across in the inning, but the Jaguars held a 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.
"Big innings kill you, but I'm very pleased with the way
Ryan Whitener came in and threw the ball. He showed what we can do on the mound and he pitched very well," said Smith.
The Wolves answered immediately in the bottom of the seventh, capitalizing on a passed ball scoring
Anthony Calabro.
Augusta immediately responded with two runs in the eighth and ninth innings, effectively ending any chances the Wolves had of getting back into the game.
UWG answered in the ninth with a sac fly from
Jackson Webb, but ultimately dropped game one 11-2.
Game Two: UWG 12, Augusta 5
While the Wolves struggled to get the bats going in game one, they were firing on all cylinders in game two, racking up 12 hits over the six innings they got a chance to step up to the plate.
Just as they did in the first game, the Jaguars jumped out to an early lead after a leadoff walk came around to score on a sac fly from Pat Galvin.
Not to be outdone, the Wolves scored one of their own after Calabro and
Henry Daniels combined for back to back singles, and
Cooper Prince drove in Calabro with a sac fly.
After a rocky start,
Chase Townsend, also making his first career start at UWG, went on to pitch 5.1 masterful innings allowing just two hits, three earned runs, three walks and eight strikeouts.
"Chase ran out of gas towards the end, but early in the season we're trying to get our guys pitch counts up and we did a good job of that tonight, but he pitched extremely well for five innings," said Smith.
UWG got right back in the scoring column with a four run third inning, with just one run being driven in with a hit. A Webb single scored Daniels, while Webb scored on a walk, Prince scored on a wild pitch, and
Tyler Presnell scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
When it seemed like smooth sailing for the Wolves, Augusta answered with a four run top of the sixth, making the game 6-5 headed to the bottom half.
UWG immediately answered with six of their own in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by a three RBI, bases-clearing double by
Jonathan Hickman.
Peyton Berry, who finished the sixth, came back and sat down the Jaguars in order to complete the 12-5 win, and give UWG their first win of 2023.
"
Peyton Berry comes in and does what
Peyton Berry does and shuts the door when we needed it most," said Smith.
Henry Daniels finished 4-for-4 at the plate in game two, while
Cooper Prince added two hits and three runs scored.
"Henry is a guy that we expect to hit the ball all over the park. He had a couple in game one as well and he's a guy that's going to lead our offense there in the middle of the order," finished Smith.
The Wolves are back in action tomorrow afternoon for game three of the series with Augusta. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. from Cole Field.
