UWG Softball takes on Montavello

The UWG softball team held their home opener Feb. 28-29 with a three-game conference series against the Montevallo Falcons. The Lady Wolves used their momentum coming off a series win against Lee University to sweep a doubleheader with Lexi Close and Morgan Goree. 

In the games, the team struck out a combined 16 batters. Goree was also hot from the plate, hitting four for seven with four RBI’s. The Lady Wolves hit at a .293 average for the season, which ranks fourth in the Gulf South Conference, but slightly lower than Montevallo’s .313 team average. 

The Lady Wolves took the lead in the first inning via a double by Raven Smith, scoring two and giving a 3-1 lead for UWG. Lexi Wolves pitcher Lexi Close struck out nine batters through five innings. Close has an ERA at 2.28 while holding batters to an 11^th best .208 batting average. Close has an ERA at 2.28 while holding batters to an .208 batting average. However, the brilliant pitching was dismounted by nine Montevallo runs in the sixth inning, cementing a 10-4 final score in game one.

Saturday was a split game doubleheader. The Wolves lost one game out of two in the day with the one loss being a 12 strikeout no hitter by UWG starter Morgan Goree. West Georgia had three errors and two hits in the game, allowing the only run of the game in the third inning. Goree would take the loss in a 1-0 final. 

The Wolves responded ferociously in game two. They fell behind in the first inning and proceeded with seven runs in the bottom of the first. They started off with a single and stolen base by Hannah Scarbrough and was scored on an RBI single by Raven Smith. After loading the bases, a walk, a pair of singles and a Montavello error ran the score up to 7-2. Goree earned the win this game going scoreless in 4.2 innings. UWG would pat on two more runs to avoid the sweep, a 9-2 victory that evened their record to 7-7 on the season.