CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Georgia Baseball team secured their fourth-straight win on Tuesday after a 19-6 win over the Augusta Jaguars.
UWG's (9-6, 5-1 GSC) bats were on fire once again as they recorded a season-high 21 hits and scored 19 runs, propelling them to their dominating win over Augusta (8-8, 0-0 PBC)
"Our hitters are becoming more comfortable in the box," said head coach
Jeff Smith. "They're seeing balls in their hot spots and they're able to get their best swings off. We talk about barrels all the time and getting as many barrels as we can and we did that today with 21 hits."
Brendan Parks got the start for the Wolves and got into some trouble early as Augusta loaded up the bases in the first. Parks proceeded to walk in a run before getting out of the inning by forcing a popup and a double play in the next two at-bats.
West Georgia responded in their half of the 1st, beginning with a lead-off single from the reigning GSC Player of the Week,
Cooper Prince. A batter later, Walt McConnell was hit by a pitch before
Sam Ladner recorded an RBI-double, scoring Prince to tie the game at one. Later in the inning,
Jared Emory and
Cade Hohl picked up RBI-singles, putting UWG up 3-1 as we went to the second inning.
Brady Simpson was called in from the pen to pitch the second and breezed through the top of the inning before West Georgia broke the game open in the bottom half.
Walt McConnell got things started with an RBI-double to right center, scoring Patrick McCollough before McConnell stole third and scored off a throwing error from Augusta's catcher Mike Morrison, extending the Wolves lead to 5-1. Moments later, Ladner hit a two-run homer to cap off a four-run inning.
Down 7-1 in the third, the Jags got right back in the ball game, by scoring three runs to cut West Georgia's lead to 7-4.
In the bottom half, McCoullough began the inning with a lead-off double, setting the stage for a two run inning for the Wolves. Prince drove in McCoullough before
Luke Hatcher capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Prince.
The scoring frenzy continued in the fourth as Augusta scored off a wild pitch, cutting UWG's lead to four. West Georgia struck for two more runs in their half of the fourth courtesy of a solo home run from
Jack Witmer and an RBI-double from McCollough, making it 11-5 UWG.
Jonathan Hickman got through the fifth with no issues, turning the game back over to the red hot West Georgia offense where Emory added an RBI-single to extend the lead to 12-5.
The Wolves continued to pour it on as they added three more runs in the sixth. McConnell got it started with an RBI-single before Hatcher and Ladner added RBI-singles of their own, extending the lead to 15-5.
In the seventh inning, McCoullough hit a no-doubt three-run homer to dead center, putting the score at a staggering 18-5. In the eighth, Augusta scored via an RBI-double from Harrison Aulds before Witmer closed out the scoring on the day with his second homer of the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Nick Swanson got the ball to close out the ball game and retired the side with no trouble to secure a 19-6 win for West Georgia. Ladner and McCullough both recorded four hits while Witmer recorded his first multi-homer game in a UWG uniform.
"I feel like our pitchers did an outstanding job today of keeping us where we need to be, allowing our hitters to get to work," coach Smith finished.
UWG will be back in action this weekend for a three-game home series against the Lee Flames, beginning on Friday at 5:00 p.m.
