CARROLLTON, Ga. - The West Georgia baseball team fell to the Bulldogs of Samford University, 11-7, in an out-of-conference home clash at Cole Field.

The Wolves (7-4) battled the Bulldogs (5-7) today in Carrollton, but Samford's five-run sixth inning followed by a two-run seventh, ultimately led to the visitors from Alabama grabbing their first road victory of the season. 

Carter Dierdorf highlighted the day with two home runs, bringing his season total to six.

Following the game, head coach Jeff Smith talked about what he saw today, stating, "These guys don't give up. The team was fighting and scoring runs to the very end. They compete and that's what I love about them. They (Samford) scored five runs in the sixth. You takeaway that, and right there in it with a really good team. We just have to limit those mistakes."
Game summary 
Starting on the mound for UWG was right-handed junior Evimael Quiles. In his first UWG appearance, Quiles posted a 3.00 ERA after giving up two runs off of three hits in his three innings against Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs started with senior righty Brooks Rice on the mound. Appearing in a combined 3.1 innings against Jacksonville State and Auburn this season, Rice posted a 27.00 ERA after allowing 10 runs off of nine hits. 

Today's contest started off as a pitching battle. Through the opening three scoreless innings, the visitors tallied three hits while the Wolves accounted for just one. 

The game stayed knotted up at 0-0 until Brady McDevitt cracked a single into the outfield, driving a UWG player home in the fourth. 

During the fifth, Samford tied the game back up at 1-1 on an RBI single. This inning marked the ending of Qulies' day. Through 4.1 frames, the Puerto Rico native allowed just one run off of four hits while striking out a season-high three batters. This brings his year's punchout total to five. Qulies was replaced by junior righty Bryan Gomez.

After the Bulldogs were able to capitalize three runs on a bases loaded situation in the sixth, the Wolves replaced Gomez with right-handed senior Will Dean with the bags still covered. Samford finished the top of the sixth with a 6-1 lead. It did not take long for the Wolves to respond. In the bottom of the inning, Carter Dierdorf crushed a solo home run over the right field fence to kick things off. Following this, Patrick McCullough sent a Samford pitch deep into center field for an RBI double. The Wolves finished the sixth frame trailing 6-4 after Brady McDevitt closed out the UWG scoring attack with an RBI single that snuck through the left side.

During the seventh, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 9-4 on a pair of RBIs. 

In the following inning, pinch hitter Luke Johnson drove a UWG baserunner home to cut the Samford advantage to 9-5 with one frame left.

Coming out to the mound for UWG in the ninth was left-handed graduate student Dosie Drakeford. Dean finished the day striking out three batters while giving up three runs off of five hits. 

The Wolves would go on to fall 11-7 to the Bulldogs. UWG's last two runs were off of Dierdorf's second home run of the day.


BY THE NUMBERS
The visitors from Alabama finished leading in hits, 16-10.

Leading Samford with four hits was left fielder Jake Souders. First baseman Carter Dierdorf led the Wolves today with three hits. Two of these were home runs, bringing his season total to six which is tied for first in the ASUN. 

UP NEXT
West Georgia heads to Tallahassee this weekend to face Florida A&M in the Wolves first road series of the season. Game one of the four game series is set for a 4 p.m. start time this Friday. Be on the lookout for rescheduling announcements due to inclement weather by following the UWG baseball X (formally Twitter) and Instagram @UWGBaseball.