Senior Toby Jordan, 3rd All-Time in UWG Career Appearances
Wolves Take On Tigers with Senior Day Saturday
By Adam Matos
4/22/2010 5:57:39 PM
Carrollton, GA - Playoff hopes for the University of West Georgia baseball team are still alive as they enter the final weekend of Gulf South Conference play. The Wolves will host rival West Alabama in a three-game set beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and concluding Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
West Georgia (13-37, 3-9) will need to sweep the Tigers and hope North Alabama does the same to Alabama-Huntsville in order to reach the Gulf South Conference Tournament for the first time since 2001. Stranger things have happened in the game of baseball and you never know with the ultra-competitive Gulf South Conference.
For things to happen for the Wolves, freshman Brett Wright will need to continue his dominance at the plate in the Gulf South Conference. The Waco, Ga.-outfielder leads the Gulf South in conference play hitting with a staggering .574 batting average, 63 points higher than his nearest competition.
Continuing to blister the baseball is senior Justin Smith. The UWG shortstop collected another multi-hit game on Wednesday against the #17 North Georgia Saints, bringing his season total to 17 different occasions. The Dawsonville, Ga. native continues to lead the West Georgia lineup in runs batted in by a wide margin with 40. In his last ten games, Smith leads the Wolves with a .368 batting average and 14 hits, five being for extra bases.
Making one of his final appearances on the mound at Cole Field will be senior Toby Jordan. Jordan has been a stalwart for the Wolves' pitching staff for much of the past five seasons, making 57 appearances in the process, third all-time in UWG career pitching appearances. Jordan's best work of the 2010 season has come his last three appearances, as he leads the West Georgia staff with a 3.08 earned run average in 11.2 innings of work over the last ten games.
West Alabama (24-17, 3-9) comes to Carrollton in need of a sweep and the same sweep from North Alabama to capture a GSC Tournament berth. On March 3 in Livingston, the Tigers swept a doubleheader from the Wolves in a non-conference matchup between the two squads.
Sophomore Colter Millican heads the UWA pitching staff with a 5-3 record and 3.34 earned run average. The southpaw leads the Tigers with 59.1 innings pitched in 11 appearances, 10 of those being starts.
Pacing the West Alabama offense are juniors Brian Simone and Kevin Deese. Simone leads the Tigers with a .359 batting average and .463 on-base percentage. Deese is the biggest UWA power threat with eight homeruns and 41 runs batted in.
Saturday will be Senior Day for the Wolves, where we will honor the 11 seniors in between games of the doubleheader, weather-permitting. If weather is a factor, we will postpone the Senior Day festivities to before Sunday's game.
UWG Baseball Seniors: Mike Markakis, Ben Lillis, Michael Hornsby, Toby Jordan, Brian York, Michael Bridges, Preston Lowther, Chris Ferguson, Anthony Winborne, Justin Smith, and Cory Watts