Lee University senior Trent Hill celebrated his best day at the plate on Saturday afternoon in helping the Flames sweep a doubleheader from the University of West Alabama, ranked 5
th in the latest NCAA Division II baseball poll.
The 5-4 and 7-4 victories moved the Flames to an even .500 mark (9-9) in the Gulf South Conference standings and 19-13 overall. West Alabama dropped to 15-5 in league play and 26-7 overall.
Hill stole the show with seven RBI and four hits in the sweep. He was a part of six of the seven Lee runs tallied in the nightcap.
"I'm proud of the overall performance of this team," said coach Mark Brew. "We battled back and found a way to win our first game and then turned back a late rally to claim the second victory. I don't think there is another team in the GSC that can say they have had a chance to sweep West Alabama going into a Sunday game."
LEE 5, WEST ALABAMA 4After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, the Flames bats went cold until the bottom of the ninth. In the meantime, the Tigers rallied with a pair of runs in the fourth and two more runs in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead into the final frame.
In the ninth, Kyle Briner led off the inning with a walk and Ben Holland was hit by a pitch. Ty Broady put down a sacrifice bunt that moved Briner to third and Holland to second. Hill promptly played the role of hero when he drilled a pitch into the left-center field gap scoring Briner to tie the game and Holland with the winning run.
The Flames made the best of just five hits in the victory. Briner, Luke Toms and MJ Brown singled. Holland collected a double and then Hill posted his game-winning hit.
Art Vidrio started and pitched the first five innings for the Flames. He allowed five hits, four runs, struck out four and walked three. Sophomore Corbin Lamb came on to give the Flames four solid innings and drew praise from Coach Brew. The lefty gave up just one hit, struck out six and walked four in picking up the victory and improving his record to 4-0 on the year.
Mitch Holgate had a double and a triple for the Tigers, while Luigi Mendez also had two of his team's six hits. Â Austin Sanders came in to help seal the deal for West Alabama in the ninth. However, the closer gave up two earned runs and was charged with the defeat
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LEE 7, WEST ALABAMA 4The Flames never trailed in the seven-inning contest, scoring a single run in the first, two runs in the third and four big runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead. The Tigers fought back with three runs in the sixth and a solo run in the seventh but the afternoon belonged to the Flames.
Hill sealed the deal with a home run and two singles. He knocked in five runs and scored once. Toms collected a pair of hits, while Nate Wierzgac, Tyler Payne, Holland and Shae Durham had one hit apiece. Holland and Briner scored two runs apiece, while Wierzgac and Payne tallied Lee's other runs.
Justin Alleman went the distance for the Flames. The right-handed hurler allowed nine hits, four earned runs, struck out seven and walked one.
Anthony Rosati took the loss for the Tigers. In four innings, he surrendered eight hits, but two errors by his teammates led to five unearned runs. Jorge Cruz pitched the final two innings for the losers.
Jake Bush, Dylan Little and Mendez had two hits apiece for the Tigers. Josh Winningham drove in two runs with a double. Jack Cockrum and Mendez chipped in with two-base hits.
The final game of the three-game series is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at Olympic Field on Sunday afternoon.
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