Hurricanes Struggle in Pair of Midweek Games

Hurricanes Struggle in Pair of Midweek Games

AMERICUS, Ga.  The Georgia Southwestern State University baseball team dropped a pair of midweek non-conference games at Hurricane Stadium this week. GSW suffered a 15-3 loss against the University of West Georgia on Tuesday and a 14-6 setback against Auburn University at Montgomery on Wednesday.

The Hurricanes head into the weekend with a record of 11-21 overall, while West Georgia improved to 13-17 and Auburn Montgomery left town with a record of 16-14.     
 
NOTES 

  • West Georgia picked up its fourth road win of the season (4-12).
  • Auburn Montgomery completed the season sweep of GSW after winning 7-3 in Montgomery on March 19.
  • The Warhawks (AUM) hold a 37-28 advantage in the all-time series.
  • Auburn Montgomery has a winning record (8-4) on the road this season.
  • The Hurricanes have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight games. 

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

  • Tucker Smith struck out two in a brief midweek appearance, but was charged with an unearned run that put AUM out in front on Wednesday for a lead the Warhawks never relinquished.   
  • Outfielder Jonathan Martin was called on to make his first collegiate appearance as a relief pitcher in the ninth inning against AUM and proceeded to strike out three of four batters faced. 
  • Bradley Hough led Hurricane batters with three hits over the two games. All three hits came in a 3-for-5 performance against AUM.
  • Hunter Foster was 2-for-4 against AUM. He didn't play against West Georgia.    

HOW IT HAPPENED (UWG)

  • The Hurricanes let West Georgia get the jump early by surrendering three runs in the second inning without allowing a hit. GSW hit a batter and walked six.
  • West Georgia put the game away with seven runs in the third. A two-run home run and a pair of two-run singles led the outburst.
  • Jason Baita delivered an RBI triple in the bottom of the third and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Martin to get the Hurricanes on the board.
  • West Georgia added five insurance runs over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED (AUM)

  • Auburn Montgomery scored an unearned run in the first inning Wednesday and stretched the lead to five with a four-run, three-hit third inning.
  • A nine-run, six-hit fifth inning by the Warhawks put the game out of reach.
  • Devin Shea drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 14-2.
  • GSW scored four runs in the seventh by taking advantage of four walks and a pair of hit batters. Hough posted the lone hit of the frame with an RBI single.     

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

  • GSW was out-hit, 25-15, over the two games.
  • The Hurricanes left 16 runners on base, opponents stranded 25.
  • GSW matched UWG and AUM's combined total by putting the leadoff man aboard on 10 of 18 opportunities (.556).
  • Hurricane batters were 4-for-22 at the plate (.182) with two outs and 2-for-16 (.125) with an RBI opportunity.
  • GSW's favorite inning to score in was the seventh. They pushed across four over the two games.
  • Hurricane pitchers walked 24 batters over 18 innings. 

UP NEXT

  • The Hurricanes resume Peach Belt Conference play with a trip to Young Harris College (20-10, 8-5 PBC) for a three-game series beginning Saturday at 2 p.m.