LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - West Georgia baseball's ninth inning comeback fell short, 6-5, to the Little Rock Trojans tonight in game one of the first road series of the season.

Down 6-3 with two outs in the ninth, UWG (1-5) battled back in the final frame to cut the ULR (4-1) lead to 6-5, but would ultimately run out of chances before completing the rally.

"I thought our guys competed well. There were a few times where I thought we could have had a couple of more runs, but I thought we battled," said head coach Jeff Smith.
With both teams' defenses playing clean baseball and the starters commanding their pitches, it took some time for either team to get on the scoreboard today.

Following a pair of scoreless frames, Little Rock drove in two runs in the bottom of the third on a triple to left field. Notably, this is only the second time this year that UWG held their opponent scoreless in the opening two innings. 

Another two frames would pass before the Wolves set themselves up in scoring position. During the top of the sixth, Brady McDevitt got pushed to third base courtesy of a double to left field by Jacob Bowman. Entering the batter's box for the third time today, Gabe Young drove McDevitt home on a ground out to second base, cutting the hosts' advantage to 2-1.

In the following inning, Anthony Cole crushed his second homer of the season to knot the game at two apiece in the seventh. 

Still in the seventh, ULR answered with a three-run home run to jump back out in front 5-2.

Now with both teams feeling more comfortable in the batter's box, UWG would respond in the eighth with an RBI single to left field by Andon Lewis, dashing the hosts' lead to 5-3.

ULR added one more in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double to center.

During the final frame, Blake Bradford brought a Wolf home on a shallow shot to right field. Still in the ninth, Gabe Young cracked a base hit RBI to center, cutting the ULR lead to 6-5 with two outs.

Unfortunately, the Pack just fell short before completing the rally. Little Rock won 6-5.

Grant Edwards was tagged with the loss after allowing ULR to take the lead in the seventh with three runs scored.

The Wolves and Trojans return to Gary Hogan Field on Saturday to face off in game two. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., and the ESPN+ link is tagged on the team's page.

"We have to continue to focus on our job. You know, the guys need to play the game to the best of their ability and minimize any mistakes and we'll be fine. These games are going to help us as we get into conference. "We've got a lot of new guys, and things will come together. It's just they got to stay positive, stay on track, stay with the process and everything will be good," said coach Smith.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
-Thanks to Cole's homer in the seventh, West Georgia has continued to hit one out of the park in every game they have played.
-Seven different Wolves recorded a hit, but none had more than one.
-After winning game one of the season, UWG has fallen into a five game losing streak.
-Senior righty Lex Kenny held ULR to two runs through six innings in his first UWG start.
Talking about his performance, Smith stated, "Lex is a guy that can command and locate his pitches. He does an outstanding job. You know, he's somebody that we're gonna need to lean on."


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