CARROLLTON, Ga. - With the 2026 West Georgia fall ball schedule only weeks away from commencing, it is time to meet some of the Pack. The 2026-27 UWG baseball team, made up of 43 players, welcomes back a mix of key contributors and 29 new Wolves.

Of the 43 players, six Wolves are currently listed as outfielders. This Pack features two returning starters, Anthony Cole and Gabe Young, and four new Wolves, Lleyton Lackey, Luke Miller, Blake Opie and Caid Finn.

Anthony Cole: After winning a DII JUCO National Championship with Pasco-Hernando State, Cole joined the Wolves last year and started 45 games, 35 in left field. Cole ended the season batting .241, with 39 hits. He finished second on the team in home runs, sending nine out, while also tallying 11 doubles. Between the Stetson, Queens, FGCU, and Tennessee games, Cole compiled a ten-game hit streak, batting .333 in that streak while sending three homers out (two in back-two-back games), and tallying 11 RBIs. He also crushed a grand slam at South Alabama on February 27.   

Gabe Young: Young saw action in 44 games last season, starting in 28, with 21 of those in right field. He also saw action in left and center field as well for the Wolves. Young ended his junior season batting .206 at the plate, 21 hits, seven doubles (tied third most on team), and finished with an on base percentage of .369. In his game versus Mercer, he went 3-4 at the plate, driving in four RBIs and sending one out of the park. Young was at Jax State before where he was named to the CUSA All-Newcomer Team after getting 33 starts for the Gamecocks. Before his college career, he prepped at Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook, Alabama.  

Lleyton Lackey: Lackey spent his 2026 season at Lenoir-Rhyne, where he ranked second on the team with 16 multi-RBI games, including two of 5+. Ended the season hitting .304 at the plate, and a slugging percentage of .561, and on-base-percentage on .454. Lackey finished the year for the Bears with 54 RBI, 45 hits, 39 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, stole six bases, and ended with 40 walks, tenth most all time in Lenoir-Rhyne history. The outfielder was at Clemson before where he redshirted in 2025 and appeared in seven games in 2024 for the Tigers.   

Luke Miller: Miller saw action in 38 games, starting 35 in the outfield for Columbus State last year. He ended his sophomore season batting .274, with 37 hits, five doubles, a triple, and three home runs while holding a perfect fielding percentage with 44 putouts. Miller also boasts that he was ten-for-ten in stolen bases last year. His freshman season at Columbus State, he started 48 games, where he batted .327 with 66 hits and 40 RBIs. Miller was named to the 2026 Peach Belt Conference All-Tournament Team he prepped at Cartersville High School in Georgia and was named Region 7-5A Player of the Year.  

Blake Opie: Opie joined the Wolves after spending his 2025 junior season at Barry University in Miami. Saw action in 49 games starting 48, batting .262 overall, 49 hits, and had the team's second-most doubles (16) and home runs (9). Having a career day against Saint Michaels, Opie went 5-5 at the plate with four doubles, a home run, four RBIs, and scoring four. His five hits tied third for a Barry record; the four doubles set a school record, and he totaled 12 bases to tie yet another school record.  

Caid Finn: A transfer from Snead State Community College in Boaz, Alabama, Finn began his sophomore season on a six-game hitting streak going 13/27 (.481). He followed that up with an eleven-game hitting streak midway through the season. Starting 51 games for the Parsons, he concluded his season with the third highest batting average at .374, the most hits with 70, the most doubles with 17, 31 RBI, and was walked 30 times. He racked up 19 multi-hit games during his 2025 season. His freshman year at Snead he made 39 appearances, snagging a hit in 36 of those games. During that season, he had a 16-game and 14-game hit streak. He finished his freshman season with a .394 average, 40 runs, 25 RBI, and stealing seven bases. Finn graduated from Hoover High School in Hoover, Alabama, and was ranked No. 15 outfielder in Alabama in his class by Perfect Game.  

UWG kicks off the 2026 fall ball slate with a home game vs Snead State on October 2 at Cole Field. Stay up to date with all things Wolves baseball by following the program's Instagram and X pages @uwgbaseball