MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn.- The Lee baseball team scored late in game one and early in game two en route to a doubleheader sweep of Milligan College on Wednesday afternoon.
The Flames took game one 7-3 behind a strong outing from Keegan Yuhl (2-0). The junior from Del Mar, Calif. pitched five innings giving up six hits and just one earned run while striking out four. Milligan's offensive was aided by four Lee errors.
"Keegan Yuhl really did an excellent job of working out of jams our defensive got us into during game one" said coach Mark Brew. "Our pitching was solid all day."
The turning point in the game came in the seventh and final inning. With the Flames holding on to a slim 4-3 advantage Brady Renner reached on an error by the Buffaloes third baseman. With Josh Silver at the plate, Brew put on the hit and run and Silver delivered a double down the rightfield line to score Renner. After a Corey Davis fly out to the second baseman, Danny Canela was walked intentionally. Karsten Strieby would make Milligan pay for the walk with a single up the middle, scoring Silver. After a wild pitched moved the runners up Derrick Pitts would hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Canela and put the game out of reach.
Alex Moore and Andy Hillis worked two innings of scoreless relief for Lee. Moore struck out a batter and walked run. Hillis walked two and struck out a batter in the seventh to preserve the game one victory.
After the seventh inning rally in game one the Flames offensive was ready to go at the start of the night cap. Lee peppered the scoreboard with crooked numbers in game two, topping Milligan 16-4. The Brew Crew would score two in the first, five in the second, seven in the third and two in the fourth to complete the series sweep.
Davis led the offensive explosion going 2-for-5 with a double, triple and five RBI. Silver would add three hits and three runs scored. Senior Brandon Rader continued to swing the bat well, adding a couple of hits as well.
Five Lee pitchers combined to keep the Buffaloes in check. Mike Guianane started and worked three innings, surrendering three hits and one run. The senior struck out three and walked two. C.J. Lusted worked an inning giving up three runs but only one was earned. David Eskew (1-0) was credited with the victory working a scoreless inning and striking out one. Jeremy Stawychny and Kyle Briner also worked scoreless innings. Both pitchers struck out two of the three batters they faced.
"We had lots of quality at bats in game two." noted Brew. "We have a big six game conference road stretch coming up at Belhaven and at William Carey."
The key conference road trip begins Friday in Jackson, Miss. against Belhaven. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
