ROME, Ga. – Lee baseball got complete games from Art Vidrio and Justin Alleman and used the long ball in posting a doubleheader sweep of Shorter University on Saturday afternoon, 6-1, 8-4.
The Flames moved to two games over the .500 mark (14-12) but more importantly improved to 6-8 in the rugged Gulf South Conference standings. It was also Lee's sixth win in their last seven starts.
LEE 6, SHORTER 1Lefty Art Vidrio was in complete command in hurling a five-hitter, while striking out 10 and walking just one in pitching a complete nine-innings. He also evened his record at 3-3 on the year.
The Flames wasted no time in getting on the board in the first inning. Chris Adams doubled down the right-field line and scored Kyle Briner, who had started the contest with a single. Lee struck again in the third and moved out to a 3-0 advantage. Ben Holland started the two-run rally with a double and scored on a single by Luke Toms. A single by Geremy Walton pushed Toms across the plate.
Shorter scored a single run in the third inning and loaded the bases before Vidrio got a huge strikeout to end a bigger rally. The margin reached 4-1 in the seventh when Trent Hill drilled a home run over the right-field fence.
The Flames added two more insurance runs in the eighth. Walton was hit by a pitch. He scored on a double by Nate Wierzgac and Ty Broady got the final RBI with a single.
Said coach Mark Brew: "Vidrio was dominating from start to finish. That's one of his performances thus far but he has really thrown well of late. Offensively, I didn't think we had our best performance but we had enough quality at bats and scratched out enough runs to get it done."
LEE 8, SHORTER 4The Flames struck early again in the second contest. Toms ripped a solo homer and Hill walked. Chris Adams blasted his first of two home runs to put Lee up 3-0.
The lead grew to 6-0 in the third inning. Hill put down a bunt single and Walton walked. Wierzgac cleared the bases with a three-run jack-shot. The Hawks cut the margin to 6-2 in the bottom of the inning. Dustin Lawson drove home two runs with a double.
Adams helped put the contest out of reach in the seventh. Toms walked and scored when Adams drilled a rocket-shot over the right-field wall, putting the Flames up 8-2.
The Hawks fought back with a couple of runs in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to key doubles by Ty Cherry and Brian Cabrera.
Using his overpowering fastball, Alleman improved his record to 3-3. Over seven innings, he struck out nine and walked two. Justin Farmer was the losing Shorter hurler.
Said Brew: "I thought Alleman had good command of three pitches and did a solid job in the complete game performance. Getting the big innings was a key to putting some distance from them early. Adams' two-run homer in the seventh ended up being a big swing after they scratched a couple of runs in the bottom of the seventh.
"Overall, we are playing with some confidence now. Anytime you can sweep a doubleheader on the road and capture the series on day one, it's a huge accomplishment in this league. Getting complete games from Vidrio and Alleman allowed us to have a fresh bullpen on Sunday. We need a big effort from Hill (starting pitcher) tomorrow as we seek to sweep."
