Carrollton, GA - The West Georgia Wolves baseball team had no luck taming the powerful bats of the West Alabama Tigers on Wednesday, as UWA took two games from the Wolves in Livingston, Al. The Wolves fell 11-3 in the first game, then 7-2 in the nightcap.
In the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, West Georgia pounced on the Tigers early, scoring a run in the top of the first inning. With two outs in the inning, senior
Michael Hornsby singled down the left field line and later scored on a double by left fielder
Brian York.
The Wolves held the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the second, when the Tigers responded with a run of their own on a double by catcher Jody Morgan.
The game stayed tied at 1-1 until UWA busted it wide open in the bottom of the third. UWG starting pitcher
Jacob Fox ran into some control problems to start the frame, hitting the leadoff batter then walking the next two. Head coach Skip Fite pulled Fox from the game in favor of junior
Kyle Parrish.
After getting the first batter he faced to pop up to first base, Parrish left a pitch too much over the plate and UWA third baseman deposited it over the fence for a grand slam. West Alabama added another run in the inning to take a 6-1 lead and seemed to never look back.
West Georgia would add another two runs in the fifth inning, on a sacrifice fly by York and a RBI single by center fielder
Mike Markakis. But West Alabama was too far ahead as they went on to beat the Wolves 11-3.
The second game of the day did not prove to be any easier on the Wolves as they just could not come up with the big, timely hit when it was needed.
UWA jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the bottom of the second, all credited to UWG starter
Anthony Winborne. The West Georgia offense sliced the lead in half a half-inning later with two runs of their own.
The Wolves waited for two outs to do their damage, starting with a Hornsby double to extend his season-long hitting streak to 19 games. York followed Hornsby's lead with a RBI single to the right side. Stringing along the Wolves' third consecutive hit was Markakis with a double in the left center gap to bring York across home plate for the second UWG run of the game.
West Alabama would go on to score another three runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach, on their way to a 7-2 victory over the Wolves.
Senior
Preston Lowther and junior
Keith Manley had impressive outings in relief for the Wolves, as they combined for 2.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen giving up a combined three hits with three strikeouts.
The Wolves look to return to Carrollton and the win column with a long four game weekend against Bellarmine University. Game one of the home stand is Friday with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m.