PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida ended any hopes of the Lee baseball team making the 2017 Gulf South Conference tournament by sweeping the Flames on a windy and cloudy Saturday afternoon.
 
Big innings proved to be the downfall for the Flames in both contests. In the opening game, the Argonauts put three runs on the board in the sixth inning and countered with four more in the seventh to claim the 13-5 victory.
 
In game two, West Florida trailed the Flames 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning but the host team plated five huge runs in the bottom of the fifth in claiming the 6-3 win.
 
"It is the first time in my baseball coaching career at Lee that I can remember us not making a post-season tournament," said a dejected Mark Brew after the doubleheader defeats. "I thought we had a good chance to win the second game but West Florida rallied and they have a really good baseball team. We have to go back to the table and do some serious evaluations. We just were not good enough to get the job done."
 
Brew noted that his Flames would be playing for pride in the final game of the three-game series on Sunday afternoon. The nine-inning contest has been moved up to a 2 p.m. EDT start. "We want to send our seniors out on a winning note," explained Brew.
 
The Flames banged out 14 hits in the opening contest but left 11 runners on base. Lee jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Tyler Payne and Geremy Walton reached on singles and scored on knocks by Jordan Howard and Spencer Mossburg.
 
The Argonauts tallied a pair of runs to tie the game in the bottom of the first and then jumped on top 4-2 with single runs in the second and third innings. The Flames tied the contest at four in the fourth. Zack Zyburt had the first of his two hits and Payne also collected his second hit of game one. Both scored on a double by Nate Wierzgac, who joined Zyburt and Payne with two hits in the loss.
 
The Argonauts quickly jumped back on top with a single run in the fifth and put the game out of reach with a total of seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Flames were guilty of four costly errors in the loss.
 
Drew Johnson had three hits for the Flames, while Jeffrey Chapuran had a hit and a RBI. Chase Andrews rounded out Lee's 14-hit attack.
 
Ladeavon Matthews had five hits and scored three runs for the winners. Nick Kerkmann blasted a home run and collected three RBI, while Robert Lopez was not to be outdone with four hits and three runs batted in. All totaled, the Argos had 18 hits.
 
Rob Gustitus (4-5) was the starting and losing Lee hurler. In 4.2 innings he gave up nine hits and four earned runs. Jay Prior, Tyler Burcham, John Reese Gilmer and Corbin Lamb also toed the rubber in the loss. Brian Browning (4-3) was the winning West Florida hurler. In 5.1 innings he allowed 10 hits and four earned runs, but it was Walter O'Connor who came to the rescue. In 3.2 innings, he limited Lee to four hits and one earned run.
 
Game 2 – West Florida 6, Lee 3
Lee pitching ace Art Vidrio was in command for the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth inning. The Flames staked the lefty to a 2-0 lead as Chase Andrews was hit by a pitch, Chapuran walked and Zack Zyburt continued his impressive hitting with a RBI single. Wierzgac blasted his team-leading 11^th homer of the season in the third inning.  
 
West Florida got to Vidrio in the fifth. Justin Ambrosino doubled, Chase Kiefer walked and Trevor Payne singled to load the bases. Matt Sullivan tied the game with a one-base hit and the Flames went to the bullpen and called on Kit Larson.
 
The ever-present Matthews continued his torrid hitting attack by ripping a double that plated three runs before the Flames could record the final out. West Florida had grabbed a 5-2 lead. Lee fought back on a solo homer by Drew Johnson in the top of the sixth but the Argonauts wasted no time in sealing the win with another score in the bottom of the same inning.
 
All totaled, Lee scored three runs on five hits. Walton, Mossburg (triple) and Zyburt joined Wierzgac and Johnson in collecting hits off a pair of Argonauts hurlers. Trace Penton (4-0) started and pitched five innings, giving up three earned runs. Jarrod Petree came out of the pen and silenced the Lee bats over the final two innings. He struck out three and walked only one.
 
Matthews finished with two hits and three RBI, while Payne had a pair of knocks and Sullivan drove in two big runs with a single. In four innings, Vidrio allowed five hits and five earned runs. Larson hurled the final two innings, giving up two hits and one earned run.