GREENVILLE, Tenn. – A pair of big innings by host Tusculum College was too much for the baseball Flames on Tuesday evening at Pioneer Park. The 9-7 loss leaves the Flames at 23-20 heading into a key GSC series against West Georgia on Friday and Saturday.
Friday's single nine-inning game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, while the Military Appreciation Day doubleheader is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
"You don't win a game where you give up two big innings like we did tonight," commented head coach Mark Brew after the non-conference loss.
The Pioneers rode three doubles in jumping out to a quick 5-0 advantage in the opening frame off Lee losing pitcher Christian Bokich (2-1). "After the bad start in the first, I thought (David) Pattinson and (Lance) Hamilton did a really nice job settling us down and giving us a chance to battle back, but the second big inning in the seventh was too much to overcome," pointed out Brew.
The Flames pecked away, tallying solo runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to cut the margin to 5-3. In the fifth, a double-play ball by Justen Freeman scored Dalton Ney. Spencer Mossburg continued to torch opposing pitchers in the sixth with a solo blast. Miguel Pimentel laced the first of his two doubles in the seventh that scored Freeman.
The Pioneers seemingly put the contest out of reach in the bottom of the seventh when four key runs pushed the lead to 9-3. The never-say-die Flames were not done, rallying for four runs in the top of the ninth.
Pimentel ripped his team-leading 11th two-bagger to score Freeman and Peyton Meeker walked. Mossburg delivered a three-run homer over the center-field wall to cut the lead to 9-7. The red-hot Mossburg now leads the Flames with 11 home runs and 41 RBI.
"Mossburg and Pimentel had nice games at the plate and Tusculum gave us 11 walks," explained Brew, "but we didn't do enough offensively early to gain some momentum."
Tusculum's Bradley Evans had three hits, including one of his team's two-base hits. He also scored twice and drove in a pair. Zach Finchum also stroked two doubles and tallied twice, while Bryson Ford finished with two hits and knocked in two runs.
Harbor Jefferson worked six innings and picked up the pitching win. Pedro Rodriguez came on to put out the Lee fire in the ninth. He fanned two of the three batters he faced and picked up his fourth save of the year.
Bokich hurled 0.2 of an inning and allowed five earned runs. Pattinson was solid for 4.1 innings, allowing just two hits. Hamilton came on for a strong inning, while Thomas Lazzaro (0.1) surrendered two knocks and three earned runs. Logan Workman was the fifth Lee hurler (1.2) and allowed two hits and an earned run.
