CARROLLTON, Ga. -- The University of North Alabama swept a double-header from West Georgia in the opening weekend of Gulf South Conference play, taking the opener 7-1 and the nightcap 5-4.
UNA junior pitcher
Tyler Joyner was dominant in the opener with a nine-inning, complete-game performance. He limited the Wolves to eight hits and two walks while striking out seven. Joyner improved to 3-0 with the win.
The Lions then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second game with a five-run fifth inning but had to rely on closer
Channing Wall to hold off West Georgia and preserve a 5-4 win.
With the sweep, UNA is now 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the GSC. West Georgia is now 5-4 and 0-2.
UNA got two runs in the second inning of the opener and added two more in the fifth and three in the eighth.
Kyle Hubbuch and
Ben Cooley singled in the second inning and both scored on an RBI-single by
Drake Tucker.
In the third, Tucker and
T.J. Lockett singled and
Logan Carter walked to load the bases. Hubbuch walked to force in a run and
Brandt Holland grounded into a fielder's choice to score Lockett and make it 4-0. The Wolves got a single run in the bottom of the fifth but UNA answered with three insurance runs in the eighth. Hubbuch singled and scored on a Cooley single.
Peyton Sockwell then singled and two runs scored on an
Aaron Hobbs single.
Hubbuch was three-for-three with two runs scored and an RBI.
In the nightcap, West Georgia took a 1-0 lead in the third inning and held it until UNA exploded for five runs in the fifth. Sockwell walked and scored on a Tucker single. Tucker then scored on a single by Lockett and Lockett scored on a
Davis Elliott double. Carter's two-run homer completed the five-run rally.
Bailey (1-1) got the win, allowing three runs, but just one earned, over five complete innings. He allowed five hits, walked one and struckout seven.
Dylan Stewart lasted just a third of an inning in relief, allowing a run on a hit and a walk. Wall then came on to shutdown the Wolves over the final inning and two-thirds, allowing just one hit to earn the save.
The Lions and Wolves meet in the final game of the series Monday at 1 p.m. Central.
