JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - West Georgia came up short in tonight's away series opener, falling 3-1 to Jacksonville University at John Sessions Stadium.
Powered by the Dolphins' (24-16, 13-6 ASUN) three-runs in the fifth, UWG (17-22, 8-11 ASUN) could not get enough going offensively to overcome the deficit, leading to the Friday night loss in Jacksonville. This defeat pushes the Wolves' losing skid to four and the Dolphins' winning streak to seven.
Head coach
Jeff Smith briefly discussed what he saw tonight, stating, "
They (Jacksonville) got the hits when they needed it and we didn't. In the inning they scored three, it came off a wild pitch and a hit or two, and all of the sudden we were down. We need to get more hits when we have runners in scoring position. We need to get productive at-bats throughout the lineup, and I expect that tomorrow. Different day, different game."
GAME SUMMARY
Making his 11th start of the season for the Wolves was senior righty Lane Pearson. Through 60.1 innings this season, the two-time ASUN Pitcher of the Week posted a fourth-best in-conference 2.98 ERA with the second-most strikeouts with 68 coming into today. Making his 11th start of the season for JU was senior righty Richard Long. In 64 innings this season, Long placed second in the league with a 2.39 ERA and was tied for ninth with 45 strikeouts prior to today.
Following two innings with no hits, Jacob Bowman got on base with a single in the third. After this, a bad played on Jack Witmer's hit by the center fielder allowed Bowman to score and put the Wolves up 1-0.
In the fifth, JU responded by taking a 2-1 lead on a double that brought a pair of Dolphins home. Still in the fifth, JU extended their advantage to 3-1 on a base-hit RBI.
The sixth frame marked the ending of Pearson's day on the mound as he would be relieved by Dosie Drakeford. Through five, the senior righty tallied four punchouts and allowed three earned runs.
Led by phenomenal pitching by Drakeford and error-free fielding, UWG did not concede another score the rest of the way, but neither did JU.
West Georgia would fall in game one.
BY THE NUMBERS
Tonight's loss brings Pearson's record to 5-2 on the season.
In Drakeford's three scoreless frames, the pitcher recorded a season-high three strikeouts and allowed just three hits. Tonight marked the longest the graduate student has gone in a game all season long. When talking about this performance, coach Smith said, "Dosie did exactly what we needed from him coming into relief. We only pitched two tonight because he did his job. I thought he did really well tonight. I thought both did well tonight."
At the plate, the Wolves were out-hit 8-4. Jack Witmer led the Pack with two, making it his seventh multi-hit game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Wolves return to John Sessions Stadium tomorrow to take on the Dolphins in game two of the three-game ASUN series. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. and the game's live-streaming link is tagged on the baseball schedule.
