The day opened with the Wolves (9-10, 2-6 GSC) dropping a 6-2 decision in 10 innings before coming back to claim a 5-3 win in the second game. UWG coach Mandy Harris knows her team is right there, now it just needs to start finishing games off like it did in Saturday’s nightcap.
“I was pleased on the day. We really fought hard in the first game. It just didn’t go our way. We came back and had a lot of fight [in the second game],” Harris said. “We’ve hit the ball pretty well I think so far this year. We’ve just got to be able to put it all together. The games we’ve lost I think we’ve just had one piece missing and [Saturday] I thought we put all the pieces together ... we’re right there, we just got to finish. I think we did that really well in the second game.”
The Wolves opened up the scoring in Game 1 when Nicole Yancey hit an RBI double to score Haley Richards before scoring herself on Heather Crow’s RBI single for the 2-0 lead. But that was all the offense UWG would be able to manage.
Union (8-6, 3-5) scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to tie things up and force extra innings. Starter Megan Roberts pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth and reliever Katie Shultes got around runners at second and third with no outs in the ninth with the help of a heads-up play by Yancey at third.
In the top of the 10th — the first of the innings starting with a runner on second — the Lady Bulldogs finally got things going and ended up scoring four runs. The Wolves weren’t able to answer and dropped the opening game.
The Lady Bulldogs carried their scoring over into the second game, getting a run on the board in the top of the first inning and added another in the third for a 2-0 lead.
This time it was the Wolves who would answer. In the fourth inning, it was Megan Garcia scoring Shultes and Crow to tie things up. Then in the fifth, Crow blasted a three-run home run to left, giving UWG the lead for good.
“Heather got her first home run. She’s been hitting the ball really well. She’s been great at double and singling it up, but a nice key hit at a really key moment. Very pleased,” Harris said.
Union would bring home a run in the sixth, but Shultes limited the damage and finished with the complete-game win.
Crow led the offense with a five-hit day to go with two runs scored and four RBI, while Yancey (3-for-7, 2 runs, RBI) and Laurel Clark (3-for-7) had three hits each.
Things don’t get much easier for the Wolves, as they host North Alabama for a 1 p.m. doubleheader today.
“I think it’s good. We played North [Alabama] last year and we played them really, really well. They’ve played a good schedule, we’ve played a good schedule, so I think it’s going to be a good game,” Harris said.
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