CARROLLTON, Ga - The West Georgia baseball team lost game one of the series to Stetson, 13-10, Friday night at Cole Field.

West Georgia (11-31, 8-11 ASUN) delivered an impressive offensive performance with five home runs, but defensive struggles told the story as the Wolves committed six errors. Stetson (16-25, 7-11 ASUN) capitalized on those opportunities and used a late surge, highlighted by an eight-run ninth inning, to storm back and take game one, 13-10.

The Hatters struck first, launching a solo home run over the left field wall to open up the scoring.

Stetson threatened again in the second, putting runners on first and second with no outs, but strong defensive play from the Wolves backed Maverick Torres, allowing him to escape the inning without damage.

Gabe Young sparked the offense in the third with a leadoff single up the middle. West Georgia capitalized as Wolves' second baseman Gabe Wuerth, blasted a two-run homer to center field to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead.

Following a very quiet fourth inning from both teams, Stetson would take advantage of a couple of West Georgia errors and plate a run in the top half of the fifth. In response, Wuerth would draw a two out walk and David Bell would made Stetson pay, crushing a three-run home run to center field to push the Wolves' advantage to 5-2.

The Hatters answered in the sixth inning with a leadoff solo shot, trimming the deficit to two.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Mason Cooper worked a walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count, setting the stage for Anthony Cole, who delivered a loud two-run homer over the left field wall. The home run extended West Georgia's lead to four.

After a leadoff single up the middle sparked the seventh inning, the Hatters added two more hits up the middle, but Jacob Bowman took over at shortstop to record all three outs in the inning and limit the damage to one run.

The UWG offense carried the momentum into the bottom half. Wuerth once again reached via walk, and Bell delivered his second home run of the night, stretching the lead to five. Andon Lewis would hit a solo home run of his own, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Hatters chipped away in the eighth, cashing in a leadoff double to cut the deficit down to five runs.

Stetson's offense erupted in the ninth, plating eight runs on three hits to take a 13-10 lead. The inning was highlighted by a three-run homer and a bases-clearing double down the right field line scoring three runs.

The Wolves showed life in the bottom of the ninth, but a runner was cut down at the plate, ending the threat.

UWG dropped game one, 13-10.

"I thought we swung the bats well, I think there were some mistakes that led to runs. Things got away from us there in the top of the ninth... Maverick threw the ball well and gave us a really good chance tonight. Once we started seeing some pitches, we started to put barrels on the ball. You have to stay in there and keep battling," stated Head Coach Jeff Smith after the game.

The Wolves return to Cole Field for game two of the series, Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. The game will be live streamed on the UWG baseball website.

NOTABLE NUMBERS
-Bell recorded two home runs and five RBIs in tonight's contest and became the second UWG player to have a multiple home run game this season.
-Lewis'  seventh-inning home run left the bat at 105 mph and traveled 395 feet, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.
-Patrick McCullough extended his on-base streak to 23 games.
-Young recorded a three-hit performance.
-Davis Williams was tagged with his first loss of the season, giving up three runs in his two thirds of an inning pitched.