LIVINGSTON, Ala. – On paper it would appear that the Lee baseball team left the University of West Alabama with a Sunday afternoon victory. However, in this sometimes crazy game, runs are only counted when runners cross home plate.
The Flames outhit the host Tigers at Tartt Field, 13-7. Every Lee hitter in the starting lineup collected at least one hit but the Flames left 13 runners stranded, a problem that haunted the club the entire weekend. The end result was a 4-3 West Alabama win in 10 innings.
As the contest moved into the ninth inning, the Flames tied the battle at three and appeared ready to regain the lead. Jordan Howard walked and took second on a wild pitch. Geremy Walton was safe on an infield hit and Nate Wierzgac's double to right tied the contest. Spencer Mossburg was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, but a double play ended the inning.
The Tigers, 24-10 overall and 14-7 in Gulf South Conference play, posted a walk and a single in the 10
th and the contest ended when Marcus Morrisette scored on a wild pitch.
"We are playing hard as a team," pointed out Lee's disappointed coach Mark Brew as his club fell to 20-15 overall and more importantly 9-12 in conference play. "We are just leaving too many runners in scoring position and making too many defensive mistakes. We will keep working to improve things, but we had our chances all weekend."
The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Flames loaded the bases in the fourth but were only able to score one run and tie the game. Mossburg singled, Miguel Pimentel followed with a double and Peyton Meeker walked to load the bases. Mossburg evened the contest on a wild pitch.
Lee grabbed a 2-1 lead in the sixth when they again loaded the bases. Meeker reached on an error, Jeffrey Chapuran followed with a one-base knock and Tyler Payne put down a perfect bunt. A sac fly by Walton plated Meeker.
West Alabama regained the lead with two runs in the seventh. A single and a pair of errors proved costly in the frame. Art Vidrio had given the Flames a solid 6.1 innings of mound work. With the Tigers threatening in the seventh, the lefty was lifted for ace reliever Kit Larson, but most of the damage had already been done.
Vidrio allowed five hits, only one earned run, striking out three and walking two. Larson (1-4) came on for three innings and surrendered two hits and one earned run. He fanned four and walked three and was tagged with the loss.
Walton's three hits paced Lee's 13-hit attack. Wierzgac stroked a pair of doubles and joined Walton with a RBI. Payne was the only other Flame with more than one hit. Luke Latham had three hits, including a double, for the winners. No other Tiger hitter had more than one safety.
Layton Dill hurled seven innings for West Alabama. He scattered 10 hits, giving up only one earned run, striking out six and walking one. However, it was Jay Booth (1-0) who helped get the Tigers out of a couple of jams in the final two innings. Booth picked up the mound decision.
The Flames are scheduled to return to Olympic Field for a single nine-inning contest against non-conference foe Albany State on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and will continue to make plans for the annual Military Appreciation Day which will be held at Olympic Field when the Flames host Union University beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
