CARROLTON, Ga. - University of West Alabama senior Jordyn Whiddon crushed a grand slam to left field in the 8th inning to defeat the University of West Georgia 15-14 in game one of a three game Gulf South Conference softball series on Friday.
 
West Alabama, now on a three game win streak, improves to 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the GSC. West Georgia falls to 5-9 and 0-4.
 
After the Tigers took a 6-1 lead in the fifth, the Wolves tied the game twice with a total of seven runs through the sixth and seventh innings.
 
With the game knotted at 9-9 in the extra inning, Lacey Santiago sparked a six run surge for UWA with an RBI single to give her team its third lead of the day. Two batters later with the bases loaded, Whiddon's grand slam gave the Tigers a 15-9 lead.
 
West Georgia responded by loading the bases in the bottom of the inning with Randi Phillips hitting a grand slam of her own with two outs to bring the Wolves within a run.
 
"It's great to win and I love the fact that our team is resilient," said UWA head coach Will Atkinson. "They just keep battling and that's an awesome characteristic to have. We continued to swing the bat pretty well today. We just didn't put our best foot forward, defensively, today. We need to do a better job of limiting our opponents opportunities."
 
Alli Hall (5-4) picked up the win after entering in the sixth inning to replace Ashley Stassin. She struck out two, both in the bottom of the eighth, and only giving up three hits.
 
Katie Shultes (1-2) took the loss in her relief appearance for UWG giving up nine earned runs and seven hits to the Tiger lineup.
 
Whiddon ended with with 6 RBI while, Stassin lead the team with three hits. West Alabama finished with 13 total hits, including a three-run homerun by Treasure Rodriguez in the top of the third inning to give the Tigers their first lead.
 
The series will conclude Saturday with a doubleheader in Carrolton, Ga. First pitch of game one is scheduled for Noon (C.S.T.).