SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In the final day of the Wings Etc. Classic, UWG dropped a pair of close games on the campus of USC Upstate.
West Georgia (3-7) fell in the opener to Youngstown State by a 9-7 final, despite leading in the seventh. In the final game of the weekend, UWG came up two runs short in a 4-2 decision to tournament host USC Upstate.
GAME ONE
Neither team scored in the first two innings, but it was Youngstown State who struck first, taking advantage of a pair of UWG errors with a three-run home run to take a third-inning lead.
In the bottom half, small ball set up the Wolves first run as a hit-by-pitch and a sac bunt gave Zekylah Boyd an opportunity to drive in a run. The senior did jus that, doubling in Mickey Coslor to make it 3-1, Penguins.
Jenna Samuel, who started in the circle for the Wolves, helped herself in the fourth, following up an Ella Oswalt single with a two-run, game-tying home run.
Youngstown State took a 4-3 lead in the fifth, adding the run on a wild pitch after two singles.
Samuel did it again in the fifth, this time driving in Humber and Boyd, who singled earlier in the inning, with a clutch, two-out single that put UWG on top for the first time in the game at 5-4.
UWG took that lead into the top of the seventh when Youngstown State would explode for five runs on five hits and flip the game to a 9-5, Penguin lead.
The Wolves did not lay down though they struck for two and had the winning run at the plate but came up short.
Boyd and Samuel each had two hits, combing for four of seven hits for the Wolves.
Samuel took the loss in the circle and was charged with five earned runs in 6.1 innings pitched.
GAME TWO
Samuel picked up a first inning RBI to start the scoring in game two, but the Spartans responded quickly in the bottom of the first. USC Upstate used three hits including a two-run home run to score three runs and lead 3-1 after one complete.
A one out walk and an error later in the frame added a fourth run for Upstate in the bottom of the third.
UWG would get one run back on another Spartan error that cashed in a sixth-inning double by Megan Waites, but that's all they would get, dropping the final game.
Samuel had a 3-for-3 day in the finale to lead the offense, which had just five hits total.
Hardison pitched a complete game and gave up just two earned runs in the loss. The senior struck out three.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Samuel went 5-for-7 on the day and is leading the team now with a .467 average. Her home run against YSU was her third of the season. She leads the team with 14 RBIs in 10 games.
- Megan Waites is one hit away from 100 for her career. The junior has played in 111 career games and made 110 career starts.
- UWG went 1-3 on the week with the three losses coming by a combined five runs.
UP NEXT
UWG is on the road in midweek action on Wednesday, February 18 at UAB. First pitch from Birmingham, Alabama is set for 5 p.m. EST.
