ROME, Ga. – After watching a 10-run lead slip away in the first game of a Gulf South Conference doubleheader with Shorter University on Saturday afternoon, Lee battled back in the nightcap to post an 8-4 victory.
The Flames are 24-24 overall and 15-13 in GSC play. They will complete the three-game series on Sunday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. Coach Mark Brew, whose team qualified for the GSC tournament, will be traveling to Cleveland, Miss. beginning next Saturday for tournament play. The play-off schedule will be posted after Sunday's action is completed.
Game 2 – Lee 8, Shorter 4
After watching Shorter come back in the opening game, the Flames staged a comeback of their own in game two. The Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 advantage with Bailey Gerstner leading the way. He singled in the first inning and followed up with a double and a one-base knock. Isiah Maddela ripped a two-RBI double in the frame.
That was all freshman Lee hurler Thomas Zazzaro would allow. The right-hander shut down the Hawks the rest of the day. He allowed seven hits, three earned runs, struck out five and walked only one.
The Flames got their bats going in the third as Jordan Howard drilled a long three-run homer. Miguel Pimentel tripled, Peyton Meeker collected a RBI and Spencer Mossburg had a two-base knock.
After sending eight hitters to the plate in the third, the Flames sent eight more batters to the dish in the fourth. Dalton Ney doubled and scored a run as did Pimentel. Meeker picked up his second and third RBI of the afternoon with a single and Howard also scored in the frame.
Peyton Moore, in relief of Jacob Farmer, was charged with the defeat. Victor Santana came on to quiet the Lee bats over the last 3.1 innings. He gave up only a single to Chase Gadau.
"As disappointed as I was with game one, I was really proud of the response in game two against a really good pitcher." said Coach Mark Brew. "Zazzaro had a rocky start, but really settled in nicely and gave us a great outing the rest of the way."
Game 1 – Shorter 11, Lee 10
The Flames exploded for four runs in the second inning and six more runs in the third to jump out to what appeared to be an overwhelming 10-0 margin. In the second, Pimentel drove in a run with a single as the Flames collected five hits in the frame. Justen Freeman knocked in a pair of runs with a one-base knock, while Fernando Ortiz, Freeman, Ney and Mossburg also scored after collecting singles.
In the third, the Flames sent 10 batters to the plate and again did the damage with four singles and a costly error by the Hawks. Tyler Payne had a pair of RBI with a single. Howard delivered a RBI with a sac fly and Chase Gadau singled before Ortiz picked up a walk with the bases loaded to score another run.
Lee's bats went silent over the next six innings and they were able to collect just one hit and it came off the bat of Freeman in the seventh inning.
The Hawks continued to peck away at the 10-run margin. Samyr Santos was the man of the hour. He homered in the third inning and then delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth as the Hawks plated five runs in the remarkable comeback. Louis Acevedo also cracked a big three-run homer in the ninth inning comeback.
The Flames used four pitchers in the loss. Wes Albert started and worked five solid innings. Eric Freeman followed and allowed four runs. Logan Workman came on to give up three runs and Jay Prior was charged with the loss in pitching just 0.1 innings. He surrendered three hits and what turned out to be the winning run.
"It was a disappointing finish to say the least. We sat on the lead offensively and gave them some freebies and big two-strike hits," commented Brew.
