CARROLLTON, Ga. - Fueled by four homers and a solid start from redshirt senior pitcher Luke Ridley, West Georgia baseball (1-1) opened the 2026 season with an 11-3 win over Central Michigan (1-1), but would fall in game two of today's doubleheader 18-6 after the Chippewas tallied 15 hits and capitalized on six hit by pitches.
"It's the first day, I mean, it was great to be back. The weather was good. I think our guys played with some energy, and that's key. You know, it's two of 56 right now, so we're just happy to be out here and get the season going. Better to compete against somebody new," said head coach Jeff Smith. "In that second game, we didn't pitch well. We walked too many, we hit guys. We just didn't pitch well. You can't walk and hit people and give them so many free bases against a good team because they are going to be able to capitalize on those things."
The teams return to Cole Field tomorrow to close out the series with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Live stats and streaming links are tagged on the team's page.
GAME ONE
Capitalizing on a pair of hit by pitches and a wild pitch in the dirt that allowed the Wolves to move to second and third, UWG found themselves in scoring position in the second inning with zero outs.
With Wolves in scoring position, Jacob Bowman drove in the first run of the season on a sacrifice fly to center field. Hank Smith then cracked a single RBI to right field, pushing the UWG lead to 2-0, but the Wolves weren't done yet. In his second at-bat as a Wolf, Fano Cruz crushed a two-run homer over the right field fence, ballooning the UWG lead to 4-0.
It did not take long for CMU to respond. In the top of the third, back-to-back Chippewa hits drove in three runs to cut the Wolves' advantage to 4-3.
Still in the third inning, Anthony Cole cracked the Pack's second homer of the day to put the Wolves up 6-3. Remarkably, the first UWG home runs of the season came from both Pasco-Hendando State transfers, Cruz and Cole. With the Wolves' bats staying hot, Gabe Wuerth knocked West Georgia's third homer out of the park, ending the third inning with UWG holding a 7-3 advantage.
Following a scoreless fourth inning, Brady McDevitt pushed the Wolves' lead to 8-3 on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Still in the fifth, Bowman drove a Wolf home on a single that rocketed past the CMU third baseman. UWG finished the inning up 9-3.
During the sixth, Andon Lewis tallied the Wolves' fourth homer to extend the lead to 11-3.
From there, UWG would cruise to an 11-3 win.
Ridley was tagged with the win. Through five innings, the ODU transfer recorded seven strikeouts and allowed three earned runs.
"I think Luke came out and he pitched extremely well. He battled through an inning or two there. We had a little bit of adversity and did an outstanding job. I mean, he commanded the baseball and did an outstanding job," stated Smith about
Luke Ridley's perfomance.
GAME TWO
Following the eight-run loss, CMU opened game two in a full sprint. Recording two runs off a double and another two from a left field homer, the Chippewas jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Still in the opening inning, UWG stormed back to lock the game at four apiece thanks to base hit RBIs from Lewis, Cole and Wuerth, and a sacrifice fly from McDevitt.
Following a pair of scoreless innings, CMU cracked a pair of base hit RBIs and a triple RBI to jump back out to a 9-4 advantage in the fourth. During the bottom of the inning, Cruz jacked his second home run today, dashing the visitors' advantage to 9-6.
In the following inning, CMU brought two Chippewas home on a double to left field, pushing their lead to 11-6.
During the seventh, UWG walked three batters with bases loaded, giving CMU a 14-6 advantage. The visitors ended the inning up 16-6 after tallying runs off a fielder's choice and a wild pitch that allowed a Chippewa to take home.
UWG would go on to fall 18-6 after CMU tallied two runs in the eighth. Zane Wright was tagged with today's loss.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
-All five UWG home runs came from new Wolves, with Cruz leading the team with two.
When talking about the immediate impact of the new Wolves, Smith stated, "The guys we've recruited and brought in to add to the core group that returned, they doing an outstanding job. They're workers. They get after it, and they understand what we're trying to do."
-In his first game back after last year's season-ending injury, Patrick McCullough went five-of-ten at the plate and recorded two runs.
-UWG was out-hit today narrowly, 22-20.
-In his lone inning on the mound in game two, Davis Williams struck out two batters and did not concede a hit.
