Welcome to The Doghouse, a weekly column recapping Union University sports action from the weekend.
This weekend, softball wrapped up their season with a 1-2 weekend, while baseball won their series 2-1 and are headed to the conference tournament.
Softball
Friday, softball knocked off West Georgia with a 6-5 walk-off win.
The game opened with two runs on three hits in the second inning for the Lady Bulldogs. The Wolves responded with three runs on four hits and one error in the top of the third. West Georgia continued to score, adding two runs on three hits and one error in the fifth. In the sixth, Union began to chip away at the deficit, putting up one run thanks to three hits and a wild pitch. Hailey Cummings hit the RBI single. In the seventh, three hits, a pinch runner, and a sacrifice fly all contributed to West Georgia making last minute pitching changes and Union clawing back to get the win. LaDesha Nelson hit the winning double that scored Gabby Morris.
Parker Davis started in the circle for the Lady Bulldogs, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing three runs on six hits. Her relief was Ashley Graves, who pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Morris then pitched three shutout innings, earning the win for Union.
Saturday, in their final games of the season, softball dropped both games, with scores of 8-3 and 12-5.
In game one, Union scored first, establishing a 3-0 lead after four innings. The Lady Bulldogs had six hits in that stretch as well as five walks and a hit batter. The lead would hold until the seventh, when the Wolves put across eight runs on five hits and an error.
Davis pitched nearly the entire game for Union, taking the loss after allowing six runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. Ashley Graves pitched the final out, allowing two runs on two hits.
In game two, the Wolves carried over their momentum, posting five runs in the top of the first inning, including an Emily Miles homer and a Marley Stowers stolen bases. In the third, the Wolves added three runs off three hits and an error. Union responded with three runs of their own, thanks to hits from Nelson, Kristen Pickens, and Emily Bennett. The remaining runs came in the fifth inning, in which the Wolves scored four runs on three hits and an error, while the Lady Bulldogs scored two runs on three hits and an error.
In the 12-5 loss, four players pitched for Union. Davis started and took the loss, pitching 0.1 innings and allowing four runs on two hits. In relief, Morris allowed four runs on four hits in 2.1 innings pitched, Taylor Griffith allowed four runs on two hits in 2.0 innings pitched, and Graves allowed zero runs on two hits in 2.1 innings pitched.
The Lady Bulldogs end the season with an overall record of 24-29 and a GSC record of 8-25.
Baseball
Friday, Union dominated West Georgia with a 10-0 mercy-rule win.
In the first inning, Nolen Milton launched a two-run homer. In the fifth, the Bulldogs scored five runs on four hits and three errors, including a Zach Wylie double that scored two runs. The Bulldogs added their eighth run when West Georgia’s Joseph Watson threw a four ball walk with the bases loaded. Union’s final two runs came from a Zach Phillips two-run shot in the seventh.
JR Miller pitched the complete game for Union, allowing four hits and earning the shutout win.
Saturday, the Bulldogs split in their doubleheader with the Wolves, falling 10-6 and winning 5-2.
In the loss, West Georgia opened with a five-run first inning, including a two-run homer from Ryan Raper. In the third, the Wolves added two runs on two hits, and in the bottom of the inning, the Bulldogs did the same. Each team would score again in the sixth and ninth innings, with West Georgia getting homers from Drew Eady and Raper. Union got an RBI single from Ryne Roper and a three-run homerun from Phillips in the bottom of the ninth, but fell short of the comeback.
Teddy Christie took the loss for Union, allowing seven runs on nine hits in five innings pitched. Skyler Harrison allowed one run on two hits in three innings pitched, and Tommy Weiler allowed two runs on two hits in one inning of work.
In the final home game of the season, Union won the rubber match. The action started in the fourth inning, when Hayden Lewis hit a two-run bomb. West Georgia responded in the sixth with an RBI sacrifice fly by Raper. In the following frame, a two-run homer from Phillips and an RBI single from Tyler Mauzy gave the Bulldogs some cushion. The Wolves scored the game’s last run with Cade Marlowe coming home on a Bradley Felkel groundout in the seventh, but fell short 5-2.
Roper earned the win for Union, throwing five shutout innings. In relief, Austin Kitterman and Marty Coursey each allowed one run in one inning pitched.
Union has an overall record of 32-17 and a conference record of 19-13.
The Bulldogs will play Tennessee Martin on Tuesday before heading to the Gulf South Conference Tournament next weekend.