CARROLLTON, Ga. – The University of West Alabama softball team dropped a pair of Gulf South Conference affairs to West Georgia on Saturday.  UWG topped the Tigers 8-4 in the opener and staved off a UWA rally in the second contest, 5-4.

UWA (37-10, 9-8 GSC) dug itself in a hole in both games and played from behind in the twinbill.  The Wolves jumped out to a 6-0 lead on the Tigers after two innings in game one.  UWG jumped on the board with a run in the home half of the first and exploded for five runs in the second after stringing five hits together in the frame.  UWG starter Haley Dunn quieted the Tiger bats through three innings before junior Jessica Powell solved Dunn to start the fourth, as Powell drilled a solo homer to centerfield.  Powell’s blast sparked UWA’s four-run fourth to trim the deficit to 6-4.  Valisha Fincher reached via a walk followed by Kelli Hartley reaching base after a fielder’s choice.  Emily White drove in the pair with a one-out double.  White closed out the UWA scoring after Angela Smith slapped an RBI single.

With Powell’s solo shot, UWA broke the single-season home run mark for round-trippers in a season as a ballclub.  Her home run in the second game of the Stillman doubleheader matched the UWA school record for home runs in a season.

UWG (30-17, 11-6 GSC) added a pair of insurance runs in the fourth and fifth.  The Wolves’ pitching staff limited UWA to just three hits in the contest and took advantage of four Tiger fielding miscues.  Aubree Hudson (13-5) saddled the loss in the opener after being touched for six runs in 1 1/3 innings pitched.

Identical to the first game, UWA did all of its damage in one inning.  The Tigers had runners in scoring position in three of the first five innings, but UWG’s Crider pitched around trouble to preserve the 5-0 lead that UWG posted with a two-run first and adding three in the fourth.  All four UWA runs were scored thanks to the home run ball in the UWA fifth.  After a lead off walk by Hartley, Fincher blasted a two-run shot to right center.  After one out in the frame and a misplayed ball by UWG off the bat off White, Laura Bagwell sent one over the left field wall.

Brittany McGee suffered the loss in the affair after tossing three innings and giving up six hits and five runs, two were earned.  Jessica Cervantes finished up the final three innings.

UWA returns to the diamond on Tuesday, April 14, with a non-conference doubleheader at Tuskegee University before squaring off with UWG at the UWA Softball Complex on Thursday, April 16.  First pitch with TU is set for 2 p.m.