CARROLLTON, Ga. - It was a triumphant start to Atlantic Sun Conference play on Friday afternoon, but as evening turned to night it was another late loss as the UWG softball team split their ASUN opening twin bill to the Queens Royals.
West Georgia (9-14, 1-1 ASUN) won game one 5-1 behind the bat and right arm of Jenna Samuel, and had Queens (6-14, 1-1 ASUN) on the precipice of a doubleheader sweep before the Royals battled back and earned an extra innings victory to split day one of the conference slate.
GAME ONE
West Georgia's defense set the tone in the top of the first as Addison Sturdivant threw out a runner at the plate for one out in the inning and Blaire Bizette connected with Samuel after a wild pitch to end the inning.
Samuel then got the scoring started for the Wolves in the second inning, slugging a two-run home run to the opposite field, scoring herself and Madison Vandergriff who got aboard with a one-out single.
Meanwhile in the circle, Samuel was keeping the Queens offense at bay, pitching out of the jam in the first and pitching around baserunners in the second, third, and fourth before a perfect fifth inning.
West Georgia got three runs of insurance in the fifth. Makayla Register and Samuel started it off with singles before Zekylah Boyd moved them over with a sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch then scored a run, and a fielder's choice RBI by Megan Waites made it 4-0. Waites then scored on an RBI single by Blaire Bizette.
The Royals got a run off of Samuel in the fifth, but she finished with her second complete game of the season and struck out four while allowing six hits and five walks and just the one earned run to improve to 4-2.
Samuel was 2-for-2 with a walk, a home run, and the two RBIs while Waites and Bizette also recorded RBIs in the win.
GAME TWO
The Wolves then came out firing in game two, quickly jumping out to a 1-0 lead after Vandergriff drew a bases loaded walk in the first.
In the second, Kaprice Leonard drew a walk, then Zekylah Boyd singled and Waites bunted the runners over into scoring position. Addison Sturdivant then singled in a run, followed by an RBI fielder's choice by Bizette. A Jacelyn Lahr single and an error then scored two and Ally Long drove in the final run of the frame to put the Wolves up 6-0.
From that point, UWG was outscored 11-2, with UWG's only runs coming on a two-run home run by Makayla Register in the fifth.
After that homer, UWG was still up 8-3, but a four-run sixth and a single run in the seventh forced extra frames. The lone run in the seventh came ona. Pinch hit home run that was nearly robbed by Waites at the left field wall, but as the sophomore came down, the ball popped up and heartbreakingly went over the fence.
The Royals then scored three runs in the eighth to take all the wind out of UWG's sails who couldn't muster a comeback in the eighth.
Jacelyn Lahr was 3-for-5 in the loss while no other UWG player had multiple hits in game two. Six different Wolves recorded an RBI, with Register leading the way with two.
UWG used four pitchers in the loss, and allowed a combined six walks.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- The game one win was UWG's first Division I home win as well as the program's first ASUN victory.
- Jenna Samuel's home run was the first of her UWG career.
- Makayla Register's game two home run tied her for the team lead with Blaire Bizette with four and gives the sophomore 11 career home runs.
- Addison Sturdivant, who was celebrating a birthday, had a hit in both games, including a double in game one and an RBI-single in game two.
UP NEXT
West Georgia and Queens agreed to move the series finale to Saturday at noon as the two teams wrap up their conference opening series. First pitch is set for tomorrow at noon.
