After dropping the first two games of an important Gulf South Conference series to ranked West Florida (5-3, 7-2), Lee bounced back to claim the final contest on Sunday afternoon at Olympic Field by a convincing 10-2 margin.
 
The victory improved the Flames to 21-18 overall and 13-8 in the GSC standings. West Florida leaves town with a 25-11 overall and 15-5 GSC mark. Lee will host Trevecca Nazarene on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to Cleveland, Miss. next weekend for another tough series against the conference leader Delta State.
 
"I was really proud of the way we responded in the second game on Sunday," remarked coach Mark Brew. "We needed to step up and find a way to avoid getting swept at home."
 
Lee 10, West Florida 2
The Flames got their bats going in the final game of the series. They pounded out 10 hits against five Argonaut hurlers and got solid pitching performances from Pat Morrow (4-0) and freshman Logan Workman. Morrow toed the rubber for 4.2 innings and gave up five hits and two earned runs. He struck out four and walked three. Workman, who was credited with the save, worked the final 2.1 innings and did not allow a hit, while fanning two and walking one. "Morrow and Workman did an excellent job of controlling the talented West Florida offense," said Brew.
 
Every Flame in the batting order, with the exception of one, collected hits in the win. Peyton Meeker and Fernando Ortiz banged out two hits apiece. It was a bases-clearing double by Ortiz in the fourth inning that put Lee over the top in the win.
 
Tyler Payne, Miguel Pimentel, Chase Gadau and Dalton Ney each had a hit. Payne scored and drove in a run. Pimentel and Ney crossed the dish. Jordan Howard and Spencer Mossburg ripped homeruns, while Mossburg's four-bagger resulted in two RBI. Robert Lopez and Nick Kerkmann had a pair of hits for West Florida.
 
"Our offense started clicking on all cylinders and we really swung the bats well through the middle innings," noted Brew. "Ortiz's bases-clearing double was a big swing to get us going. Each game right now for us is a tournament game. Our goal is to qualify for the tournament so this was a big win with three weekends remaining."
 
West Florida 7, Lee 2
The Argonauts made the best of nine hits in Sunday's opener. They broke open a 2-2 battle by scoring three runs in the fifth and adding a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. Lee mustered just six hits off winning pitcher Dylan Mills-Derouen (4-0), who hurled seven complete innings, allowing four hits and one earned run. He struck out seven and issued one free pass. Jared Middleton was called on for the final two innings and did not give up a run while fanning four Flames.
 
Jumpei Akanuma (4-2) was the starting and losing Lee hurler. Over 4.2 innings, he allowed seven hits and five earned runs. Thomas Zazzaro (2.1), Joe Parete (1.0) and John Reese Gilmer (1.0) did relief duties. Parete and Gilmer registered perfect frames.
 
Howard homered in the loss, while Pimentel stroked a double. Ney, Chase Andrews, Justen Freeman and Ortiz had Lee's other hits. Jacob Silverstein lined a two-run homer over the right-field wall for the winners. Matt Sullivan knocked in two runs with a double and Joey Bend had two hits for the Argonauts.
 
 "It's a tough game to let get away when you have a lead late.  Our pitching was good enough, but our defense and hitting with runners in scoring position struggled," said a disappointed coach Brew. "We also failed to execute some bunt situations that ended up hurting us." The Flames stranded 12  base runners.
  
Tony Kucera started and worked the first six innings. He allowed a pair of earned runs, walked four and struck out four. Avery Geyer, a hard-throwing right-hander fanned five Flames over the final
 
West Florida 5, Lee 3
The Flames opened the important three-game Gulf South Conference series with the Argonauts on a cold and damp Saturday afternoon at Olympic Field. Through seven innings, Lee held the upper-hand and never relinquished the lead until a couple of misplayed fly balls in the top of the eighth inning helped the Pensacola club gain the lead for the first time and salt the important victory away.three innings to pick up his second win of the year.
 
Wes Albert started and hurled 6.1 strong innings. He surrendered six hits and only one earned run, while recording five strikeouts and issuing a free pass. Eric Freeman came on for 1.1 innings and ran into some hard luck on a couple of misplayed fly balls by his teammates. His numbers go down as three hits allowed, one earned run, a walk and a strikeout. Jay Prior recorded an excellent 1.1 innings. The right-hander gave up two hits but was in total command.
 
Payne had two hits and scored twice in the loss. Pimentel and Ney also posted a pair of hits. Mossburg and Ney picked up two-base hits, while Justen Freeman had a hit and scored Lee's other run.