by Matt Cooke
The first look at the 2015 version of the West Georgia baseball team was a good one, as the Wolves opened the year on January 31at Cole Field with a pair of victories, dispatching the Paine Lions 15-3 in the opening game followed by an 11-1 victory over the Lions in the nightcap.
Game 1 Recap
UWG 15, Paine 3
The West Georgia lineup pounded out 16 hits and the pitching staff allowed just five en route to a 15-3 shellacking in the opener. Head coach Skip Fite gave the ball to Matthew Norton as the opening game starter, and the junior did not disappoint in his first outing. Norton went four innings, allowing no earned runs, striking out three and walking one while throwing just 59 pitches in the game.
Paine struck first in the game, taking advantage of a first-inning error to take an early 1-0 lead. But junior transfer outfielder Tyler Hutch gave the Wolves all the momentum they would need in the first at-game of the contest for UWG. Hutch hit a laser just past the Paine shortstop and into shallow left-center. The junior turned on the jets and wowed the opening day crowd with a leadoff double. Three batters later, the Wolves would be on the board for the first time this season after Hutch and first baseman Dalton Rogers scored on a double from Garrett Hayes.
But West Georgia wasn't done, as designated hitter Drew Eady singled home Hayes later in the inning to give the Wolves a 3-1 advantage. In fact, West Georgia scored in each of the first five innings of the season, but the big blow came from Rogers in the second, as the junior lefty delivered a bases-loaded triple down the right-field line to break the game wide open. Rogers was the top offensive player for the Wolves in the opening game, going 3-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBI. He had a triple and a double and was also solid defensively at first base.
Twelve different batters had hits in the contest and every starter had at least one hit. The Wolves were also patient at the plate, drawing eight walks and five hit batsmen in the first game.
Fite threw four arms on the afternoon, starting with Norton and following up with a pair of innings for senior A.J. Sunstrom, who gave up two runs on a hit and struck out a batter. Ethan Hunter came on in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two. Tyler Gunnin closed out the game in the ninth, facing one more than the minimum after allowing a walk.
Game 2 Recap
UWG 11, Paine 1
The second game started out in a similar fashion to the first, as Fite handed the ball to another newcomer in the nightcap in Josh Morgan. The junior allowed a run on four hits and struck out four in three innings of work in the contest, but the first run came in the first inning. That was all that Paine would muster in the seven-inning affair, as the trio of Morgan, Colton Duttweiler and Chris Burdette allowed very little after the first inning.
The Wolves were patient again in the second game, as West Georgia drew 10 walks in the contest and the first two runs of the game for West Georgia came either off of a walk or a player being hit by a pitch. After the second run scored however, UWG began to break the game open, as another second-inning extra-base hit broke the game open. This time it came from Sumner McWhorter, who doubled with the bases loaded, driving in two runs and giving the Wolves a 3-1 advantage.
By the time the dust settled in the second, the Wolves had a commanding 4-1 lead and were cruising. West Georgia continued to pour on the offense, and when Chris Burdette came on to work the sixth and seventh innings on the mound for the Wolves, the scoring was nearly complete. That didn't matter, as Burdette was perfect over the final two innings to preserve the victory.
The run for Burdette since last March has been one of the more interesting stories on the squad, as the junior had a rough March in 2014. In a span of five games, he gave up 23 runs, But on April 2, he came in with a new form, taking his motion down to more of a sidearm pitcher. The result has been career-altering, as Burdette has allowed just two hits in five appearances dating back to then. He allowed no hits on Saturday, working his hitless inning streak to five straight.
Second baseman Artemis Kadkhodaian and McWhorter each had three hits on the afternoon, and Kadkhodaian ended the day as the Wolves top hitter with a .800 batting average. The sophomore was 4-for-5 on the afternoon with five runs scored and he drew three walks.
The Wolves will take on the Georgia Regents-Augusta Jaguars on Tuesday afternoon, beginning at 3 p.m. at Cole Field.
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