Piece by piece, week by week, the 2018 edition of Lee baseball is blended into a solid unit. On Saturday at Olympic Field the Flames completed a Gulf South Conference three-game sweep of the University of Auburn at Montgomery, winning 3-1. It was their first GSC series sweep of the year. The two clubs opened the series on Friday with Lee winning 3-2 and 9-3 wins.

The Flames scored their only three runs in the second inning and then turned back rallies by the visitors in the third and fourth innings to improve their overall record to 16-14 and 9-6 in the important conference race.

Miguel Pimentel began the surge in the second with a double. Dalton Ney reached on an error and Justen Freeman put down a bunt to move the runners up to second and third. The throw to first got away from the first baseball, allowing Pimentel to score. After Tyler Payne was hit by a pitch Jordan Howard unloaded a two-run double, plating Ney and Payne.

Peyton Meeker had three hits in the win while Payne, Howard and Pimentel helped complete the 12-hit attack with a pair of hits. Spencer Mossburg, Ney and Freeman also hit safely.

Jumpei Akanuma (3-1) worked the first three innings for the Flames and allowed four of the AUM five hits. He battled in allowing one earned run, walked three and fanned six. Freshman Thomas Zazzaro hurled the final three innings and was impressive. He surrendered just one hit and struck out two, and issued no free passes.

Sam Steigert (0-2) was the starting and losing WarHawk pitcher. Ryan Burkett and Nathan Langley also tossed the rubber. Langley did not allow a Lee run over 3.2 innings. At the plate, Langley and Hayden Friesen had four of the five AUM hits, all singles.

"I am very proud of the team," praised head coach Mark Brew after the completion of Saturday's contest. "It's our first sweep and our pitching was really good all weekend. Akanuma didn't have his "A" game, but he battled. Zazzaro really did an excellent job finishing."

Offensively, I thought we hit the ball hard all day and did a good job in the pressure game with our bunting and running," the coach added after his team won its four game of the week and sixth in the last seven starts. "We are playing with lots of confidence right now. We have a big week next week with road games at Lincoln Memorial and (GSC series) Valdosta State."

Friday' games

Game one - Lee 3, AUM 1

Ney delivered a double and scored on what turned out to be a game-winning hit by Fernando Ortiz in the bottom of the eighth inning as Lee began their sweep of a Friday afternoon doubleheader with a 3-2 victory over the visitors from Auburn University at Montgomery.

The WarHawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Flames in the opener. Donovan Chandler was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Langley. Langley tallied the second run when Jonathan Brandt singled.

Lee starter Wes Albert did not allow a run the rest of the 6.2 innings he hurled. The senior right-hander gave up one earned run, struck out three and walked two. Logan Workman came on to seal the deal in the final 2.1 innings. The freshman allowed just two hits and struck out three. He also recorded his third pitching win of the year.

The Flames waited until the bottom of the fifth inning to get their bats going. Justen Freeman began the rally with a single and scored on a RBI double by Ortiz. Payne tied the contest at two with a one-base hit that pushed Ortiz across the dish. Payne and Ortiz were the only Flames with two hits in the contest.

Garrett Deloney pitched well enough to win for AUM but suffered his second loss of the year. The lefty scattered seven hits, allowed three earned runs and struck out six.

GAME TWO – Lee 9, AUM 3

The Flames fell behind again 2-0 in the nightcap but rebounded by sending nine hitters to the dish in the third and fourth innings to quickly put the battle away. Four runs scored in the third when Ortiz singled, Payne walked, Chase Gadau reached on an error and Meeker picked up a RBI with a single. Mossburg followed with a two-base knock that plated Gadau and Meeker.

In the fourth inning four more runs pushed the lead to 8-2. It began with a walk to Ney, Payne singled, Howard drove in two runs with a double and Meeker collected two more RBI with his two-base hit. Payne, Howard, Gadau and Ney tallied the runs. The final score was registered in the sixth when Meeker tripled and scored on a wild pitch.

Pat Morrow shook off a slow start and recorded his third pitching win of the year. In six innings he allowed six hits and three earned runs. He struck out six and walked three. Jay Pryor came on to work the final inning and allowed just one hit while striking out one WarHawk.

Hank Scott was the starter and loser for AUM. He surrendered eight hits and eight earned runs in 3.1 innings. Danny Caldwell (2.0) and William Gibson (0.2) also toed the rubber in the loss. Langley had two hits and tallied two of AUM's three runs. Brandt also countered with two hits and drove in two of the WarHawks three runs.