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Junior third baseman Kaylie Drew went a perfect 7-for-7 on the day and drove in seven runs to lead the Lee softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Delta State University on Friday afternoon at Butler Field.

The Lady Flames have now won seven straight games and five straight Gulf South Conference contests and improve to 26-12 on the year and 14-8 in league play. The Lady Statesmen fall to 14-16 overall and 5-11 in conference play.

The two teams will wrap up the three-game set tomorrow afternoon with first pitch slated for 2 p.m.

GAME TWO – LU 10, DSU 4
Drew continued where she left off in game one as she broke things open in the third inning with a grand slam home run to left center as Lee cruised to a 10-4 victory over the Lady Statesmen in game two.

The Fallbrook, Calif. native finished 4-for-4 with two doubles the grand slam, six RBI and three run scored.  Drew leads the team with 11 home runs on the year.

She wasn't the only Lady Flame to get in on the hit parade however. Lee banged out 16 hits in the game as Amanda Lynn stroked three singles while Dominique Hannah, Emily Dagnan and Qiley Lewis each had a double and single.

Freshman Brooke Bailey came on as a pinch-hitter and roped a single to left to score a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The offensive explosion for the Lady Flames came to an end as Drew and Dagnan ripped back to back run-scoring doubles in the sixth inning.

The 10 runs were more than enough to back Lee starter Angie Hughes. The junior went the distance and struck out 13 Delta State batters in the contest. Hughes allowed four runs on five hits to move to 11-5 on the season.

Taylor Johnson (6-3) was tagged with the loss for the Lady Statesmen as she went just two-plus innings giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits. Katie Justice worked 2.2 innings of relief allowing three runs on five hits and Taylor Tucker pitched the final 1.1 for the visitors and yielded two runs on five hits.

Amber Adcock registered two singles for Delta State as she improved on her GSC-leading  batting average (.469). Mariah Alvarez connected on a three-run homer in the sixth frame to account for the lone extra-base hit for the Lady Statesmen.

GAME ONE – LU 7, DSU 5
Leigh Beatenbough tossed a complete game and held off a late charging Delta State club to give Lee the 7-5 win in Friday's opening game.

The freshman dodged trouble in the final inning as Delta State brought the tying run to the plate and scored three times but saw its comeback effort fall short.  The Lady Statesmen loaded the bases and scored three times on singles by Adcock and Kassidy Tally before Beatenbough slammed the door.

The win moves Beatenbough to 11-7 on the year as she gave up 10 hits and five runs while striking out three batters. She snagged a liner back in the third inning to keep Delta State off the board which proved to be a key turning point in the contest.

Thanks to a three-run homer by Dagnan in the fifth inning the Lady Flames held a comfortable 6-1 advantage after five complete. The junior-transfer catcher now has six homers in her first year as the Lee backstop.

Hannah and Drew paced the Lady Flames at the dish. The two combined to go 6-for-7 with four runs scored in the contest.  Dagnan finished with two hits and three RBI while Beatenbough helped her cause at the plate with a double, single and scored a run.

Shayna Beaver (6-5) started in the circle and went 4.2 innings allowing six runs on 12 hits to go along with a pair of strikeouts for the Lady Statesmen. Brooke Watts pitched the final 1.1 innings in relief allowing one run on two hits.

Kory Watterson and Taylor Holland joined Tally with two hits each for the Mississippi club.