GREENWOOD, S.C. - The UWG Softball team was swept on Tuesday in a midweek doubleheader by non-conference foe Lander.
West Georgia (10-32) had leads in both games including a sixth-inning lead in the finale, but ultimately dropped both games. Lander (24-13) won game one 11-7 before using a big sixth inning to complete the sweep with a 9-7 decision.
GAME ONE
The opener featured 18 runs and West Georgia scored first, pushing across two in the opening frame. The first of the two came by way of a wild pitch as Isabella Pinto darted home. Madison Vandergriff then scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Jacelyn Lahr.
Lander then scored one in the first and two in the second to take their first lead of the game.
In the third, Vandergriff drove in Arun on a single to score Zekylah Boyd and tie things up at 3-3. The bottom half saw the Bearcats push across three runs and take a lead they would never relinquish.
UWG got one in the fourth on a Chandler Mevis RBI and then two more in the fifth to pull within one at 8-7. Emma Helton drove in two with a single and a fielder's choice scored another in that fifth inning. Lander then pulled away in the fifth with three more runs.
Pinto and Janke led the offense with two hits each. As a team, UWG had nine hits, all singles.
UWG used both Camden Smith and Macy Ann McKnight with Smith starting and taking the loss after allowing six earned in three innings.
GAME TWO
A Vandergriff home run in the bottom of the first gave UWG an early lead in game two only for Lander to tie it up in the first and take a 5-1 lead after two innings.
UWG slowly chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 5-3 in the third as Vandergriff got another RBI on a sacrifice fly and then an R.J. Janke groundout added another.Â
In the fifth, Vandergriff picked up a third RBI to make it 5-4, and then Janke slugged her eighth home run of the season to put UWG up 6-5. Rylee Green added a seventh run on a pinch hit single to make it 7-5.
Lander responded with four runs in the sixth that featured a two-run go ahead home run by a Bearcat pinch hitter. The Wolves were retired in order in the final frame to fall in the nightcap.Â
Both Vandergriff and Janke had three RBIs to account for six of UWG's seven runs. Vandergriff ended the game 2-for-2 with a walk and three RBIs while Janke was 1-for-4 with the big home run. Isabella Pinto also had two hits, giving her four in the doubleheader.
UP NEXT
UWG travels to Rome, Georgia on Friday and Saturday for a three-game series against the Shorter Hawks. The series begins on Friday evening at 5 p.m.
