CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Georgia Baseball team split their Saturday double header against West Alabama, dropping Game One, 13-6 while winning Game Two, 5-0.
Pitching and defense hurt UWG (15-14, 8-6 GSC) in Game One as the Wolves allowed 13 runs on 15 hits while committing three errors in the field, propelling West Alabama (14-15, 7-10 GSC) to their seven-run win. In Game Two,
Seth Dudley and
Jonathan Hickman anchored a strong pitching performance for West Georgia as they held the Tigers scoreless for the first time this season.
GAME ONE: UWA 13, UWG 6
Jack Rasmussen got the start for West Georgia in Game One and breezed through the first two innings before running into trouble in the third.
The inning began with
Walt McConnell recording a one out hit in the top half, but the Wolves left him stranded to send the inning to the bottom half where West Alabama struck first.
Rasmussen surrendered four hits in the inning, including RBI-singles to the Tigers' Houston Kitterman, Nick Thibodeau which put West Alabama up 3-0.
West Georgia went down 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth, setting the stage for another big inning for UWA.
Brendan Parks got UWG out of the third inning and pitched the fourth where two errors from the Wolves propelled the Tigers to three more runs, extending their lead to 6-0.
In the fifth, West Alabama threatened to add more to their lead after Parks hit a batter and an error from
Patrick McCullough loaded up the bases. Parks was able to get out of the jam, keeping the Wolves' deficit at six.
McConnell got UWG on the board in the sixth inning courtesy of a lead-off home run before
Jared Emory followed suit with a solo home run of his own, cutting West Georgia's deficit to four.
UWA added to their lead in their half of the seventh as a solo-home run from Blake Vineyard put West Alabama up 7-2.
In the eighth,
Cooper Prince drew a two-out walk, bringing
Luke Hatcher to the plate who ripped an RBI-double to left center to cut the Wolves' deficit to four. Next to bat was Emory who delivered an RBI-single to make it a 7-4 game.
West Alabama added a plethora of insurance runs in their half of the eighth, scoring six runs in the inning to put the game out of reach at 13-4. The Wolves scored two runs in the ninth but went on to fall by seven runs in Game One.
GAME TWO: UWG 5, UWA 0
Seth Dudley got the start for West Georgia in Game Two and carved through West Alabama's lineup, recording seven strikeouts and allowing just one hit in the first three innings.
UWG's offense gave Dudley run support in the fourth as
Cooper Prince began the inning with a lead-off double before Hatcher drew a walk and McCullough was hit by pitch to load up the bases.
Mason Cooper stepped into the box next and was also hit by a pitch, scoring Prince. Hohl was due up next in the order and blooped in a double down the left field line that scored McCullough and Hatcher to extend West Georgia's lead to 3-0.
After Dudley put together another productive inning of work, UWG added another run to their lead in the top of the fifth as an RBI-triple from Hatcher put the Wolves up 4-0.
In the bottom half, Dudley found himself in trouble for the first time in the ball game. UWA loaded up the bases in the fifth, forcing head coach
Jeff Smith to make a move to the bullpen as he brought in
Jonathan Hickman. Hickman worked out of the jam without surrendering any runs, keeping West Georgia's lead at four.
UWG added an insurance run in the seventh before Hickman slammed the door to secure a 5-0 win.
Dudley recorded a career-hugh eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings while Hohl picked up his eighth multi-hit game of the year.
West Georgia and West Alabama will conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a 2:00 PM EST contest.
