HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - It was a doubleheader split for the UWG softball team as the Wolves took one of two from the seventh-ranked Alabama Huntsville Chargers on day one of the teams' Gulf South Conference series.
West Georgia (7-24, 3-11 GSC) jumped out to a big lead in the series opener before holding off a late Charger comeback. UAH (24-5, 11-2 GSC) bounced right back in game two, run-ruling the Wolves in a 9-1 decision.
GAME ONE
Despite a 9-0 lead, it was a one-run win for the Wolves in the series opener. A UAH error with the bases loaded netted the Wolves first run and an RBI for Emerson Miller. Emma Nixon then gave the Wolves a 5-0 lead with a grand slam that ignited the Wolves' dugout and fans in attendance.
Katie Morris started for the Wolves and pitched shutout innings in each of the first four innings, while the UWG offense added a run in the third and three in the fourth on two more long balls. The first was a solo shot from Emerson Miller in the third, and a three-run homer from R.J. Janke in the fourth made it a 9-0 lead.
Down to their last three outs in the fifth, UAH struck for two to extend the game, and forced a sixth inning trailing 9-2. Madison Vandergriff took advantage, singling home Zekylah Boyd to make it 10-2 and extending her hit streak to nine games in the process. Again in the sixth, UWG had an eight run lead and UAH would not go away, scoring two more to make it 10-4 and send it to the seventh.
Nixon added a fifth RBI of the game in the seventh, singling home Nicole Couvertiere, and the run ended up being extremely important as the Chargers nearly mounted an incredible comeback in the bottom half. UAH got six runs on three hits including two home runs and were aided by two UWG errors and three walks. UWG used Morris as well as Marissa Thompson to complete there seventh, but Morris reentered to finish off UAH and earned the win. Her final line was 6.2 innings pitched with 10 hits allowed and six runs and five earned while striking out two.
West Georgia was led by Nixon who went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, and also got a two-hit game from Zekylah Boyd in the leadoff spot. Janke had the one hit a three RBIs while Miller had a pair of RBIs and Vandergriff had one RBI.
GAME TWO
In game two, it was a 1-1 game to the midway point before the Chargers extended the lead and put an exclamation point on it with a six-run fifth inning. The Chargers scored one in their half of the first to take an early lead, but an RBI double by Lauren McElhaney in the top of the second made it 1-1.
UAH got two runs off of UWG's Macy Ann McKnight in the fourth before the six spot in the fifth handed the loss to McKnight.
The Wolves had just two hits in the game with Janke getting the second.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- The game one win was the first UWG win in Huntsville since the 2017 season.
- Ten of eleven UWG runs in game one were scored with two outs.
- Nixon's grand slam was the first home run of her career, and her five RBIs marked the first five-RBI performance for UWG since Janke had seven in a game against Delta State last season.
- Miller's home run was the third of her career and Janke's gave her the team lead with four and was her 13th career home run at UWG.
- Vandergriff extended her hitting streak to nine games in game one, but saw it end there as she went 0-for-1 in game two.
UP NEXT
The Wolves and Chargers will play tomorrow at 1 p.m. EST with the series on the line.
