ROME, Ga. – On Saturday afternoon, the Shorter Hawks (11-4, 1-4 GSC) dropped both games of a twin bill to the University of West Georgia (12-4, 7-2).
 
Game One
The first game was nothing short of a slugfest with two teams combining for 27 runs. The Hawks bats stayed hot in the contest, scoring at least 12 runs for the third time in four games. Unfortunately, the Hawks offensive explosion wasn't enough as they fell to West Georgia by a score of 15-12.

After allowing four runs in the top of the first, Shorter got four runs of their own in the third inning. Justin Barnes got the Hawks on the board with a single that plated Matt Christian. Later in the inning, Kaleeq Brannigan hit a three-run home run to left field to tie the game.

In the top of the fifth inning, West Georgia got six more runs, powered by a grand slam. The Hawks got six runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, highlighted by a pair of two-run jacks from Nathaniel Butterworth and Christian. Bailey Gerstner doubled later in the inning to plate Barnes and then scored later in the inning on an error by the Wolves catcher to tie the game at 10.

In the sixth inning, Shorter took their first lead of the day when Aaron Reardon singled to center field, scoring Cory Mason. In the seventh and eighth innings, West Georgia added five more runs to retake the lead, tacking the loss onto the record of Jacob Arizpe.
In the ninth inning, Brannigan singled to plate Barnes but the last-scoring effort was too little, too late.
 
Game Two
In the series finale, the Hawks struggled to get anything going at the plate in an 8-0 shutout loss. The nightcap of the doubleheader was called after five innings when the umpires determined it would be unsafe to continue playing due to the rapidly setting sun.

Gerstner and Christian combined for the only two hits for Shorter in the contest.

Over the first two innings, Jonathan Pintaro struck out three Wolves hitters and allowed just one hit. Carson Cook and Zach Courtwright both had scoreless appearances out of the bullpen for the Hawks in game two.
 
Up Next:
The Hawks will be back in action at the Robert H. Ledbetter Baseball Complex on Tuesday afternoon for a mid-week contest against Morehouse College before a weekend series against Gulf South Conference foe Mississippi College. Tuesday's game will begin at 2:00 p.m. and the Mississippi College series will feature a single game at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.