Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ROME, Ga. – The UWG Baseball team dropped Games Two and Three to the Shorter Hawks on Saturday, losing the series 2-1.

West Georgia (27-13, 14-10 GSC) struggled on the mound in Saturday's double header as the Wolves gave up a combined 25 runs on 24 hits in the two games, propelling Shorter (22-17, 14-12 GSC) to a series win.

GAME ONE: Shorter 12, West Georgia 11

West Georgia struck first, as a sac-fly from Jared Emory got the Wolves out to an early 1-0 lead. That lead was quickly erased after Shorter responded with two runs off of starter Jonathan Hickman in their half of the first to take a 2-1 lead.

After surrendering those two runs in the first inning, Hickman settled down and pitched a solid second and third inning, before running into trouble in the fourth. A lead-off single and a walk put the Hawks in business in the fourth before a sacrifice fly scored the third run of the game for Shorter, putting West Georgia in a 3-1 hole. After the sacrifice fly, coach Smith went to his bullpen, inserting Bay Witcher who put away the final batter of the inning.

The UWG bats woke up in the fifth as the Wolves struck for three runs in the inning. Lead-off walks drawn by Sam Ladner and Henry Daniels got the party started before Anthony Calabro loaded up the bases with a single, bringing up Logan Fink. Fink was hit by a pitch which drove in Ladner before a two-run double from Jared Emory gave West Georgia their first lead since the first inning at 4-3.

Ezra Brown got the ball to start the fifth and much like the first inning, Shorter responded with runs of their own in the fifth as a five-run inning from the Hawks put the Wolves in an 8-5 deficit.

In the sixth, Ladner got UWG started with a no-doubt solo home run, cutting the Wolves' deficit to two. West Georgia would later get runners on second and third with one out but couldn't push anymore runs across to keep their deficit at two.

Andrew Smith got the call from the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth and walked the first batter he faced, sparking a massive three-run inning for Shorter to give the Hawks an 11-6 lead as we went to the seventh.

West Georgia got right back in the ball game in the seventh as the inning began with a Jackson Webb a single followed by an error from the Hawks, bringing up arguably the hottest hitter on UWG's roster in Ladner with two runners on. Ladner stayed hot as he belted a three-run homer to make it a 11-9 game. Right after Ladner's game altering home run, Henry Daniels ripped a double down the line before Calabro cashed him in with a double of his own, cutting the Wolves' deficit to one.

After Ronny Piepmeier surrendered a lead-off walk in the seventh, Coach Smith inserted Chase Townsend who retired the first two batters he saw until a two-out RBI single from Shorter's Kobe Jones extended the Hawks' lead to 12-10 as the game progressed to the eighth inning.

The scoring was put on pause in the eight as UWG found themselves down to their last three outs in the ninth. Daniels and Calabro both reached base courtesy of an error and a hit by pitch, putting the pressure on the Hawks' pitching staff. A passed ball allowed Daniels and Calabro to advance to second and third before a ground-out from Jared Emory scored Daniels. With the tying run at third, Cooper Prince grounded out, putting an end to Game Two.

Ladner carried the UWG offense with two home runs, while Emory added four RBIs.
 
GAME THREE: Shorter 13, West Georgia 1

Jack Rasmussen got the start in Game Three and cruised through the first four innings, but the UWG offense couldn't get anything going until Jared Emory launched a solo home run in the fifth to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

After dealing for four innings, Rasmussen ran into trouble in the fifth as the Hawks struck for four runs, forcing coach Smith to make his first call to the bullpen. Ryan Whitener got the call to relieve Rasmussen, inheriting a runner on first. That runner would later come home to score to give the Hawks a 5-1 lead but Whitener put out the fire in the fifth to send us to the sixth.

West Georgia struggled with errors in Game Two and those struggles arose again in the sixth as a three-base error from Whitener allowed Shorter to add to their lead, making it a 6-1 game. Coach Smith made his second move to the bullpen after the error, calling on Jake Jordan to finish out the inning. Jordan issued a walk, hit by pitch, and surrendered a Grand Slam, breaking the game wide open for the Hawks.

Dominic Murgo came in and got the three outs but not before Shorter scored three more runs in the inning, extending their lead to 13-1.
The Wolves got two runners on in the seventh but weren't able to push any across as Shorter went on to win 13-1.

West Georgia will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Augusta, GA for a road non-conference matchup against the Augusta Jaguars.