Senior lefty Ryan Beamish's second home run of the day turned out to be the game-winner as Lee won the four-game series with Lindenwood University (Missouri) 3-1. The Lions thumped the Flames in Sunday's opener (11-3) before the Flames claimed the finale, 1-0.
The series was played at Cleveland State's Cougar Field and the Flames will get a couple days of rest before traveling to Saint Leo, Florida for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday.
"Give Lindenwood credit," said Lee head coach Mark Brew. "They pitched us very well and made things difficult on offense. Ryan Beamish stepped up big for us and Alex Butler was lights out in his freshman debut. I thought we pitched very well all weekend. We had one really bad inning in the first game on Sunday but the pitchers pulled us through in this series."
Lee 1, Lindenwood 0
Beamish produced the only run the Flames needed with his drive over the right-centerfield wall in the bottom of the eighth inning. Thomas Zazzaro and Fernando Ortiz had Lee's other hits.
The Lee pitching was outstanding in holding the Lions to only four hits. Freshman right-hander Alex Butler (Chattanooga Baylor School) gave the Flames 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball. He gave up four hits while striking out five and issuing no free passes.
Senior right-hander David Pattison came on in relief in the seventh and quickly got a double play to get the Flames out of a bases-loaded jam.  He worked 1 2/3 innings and did not allow a hit. Sophomore Logan Workman earned the save with a perfect ninth inning.
The Lindenwood pitching was also outstanding. Bryce Beckmann hurled the first three innings and was perfect, striking out three Flames. Eric Hipp was charged with the loss. In four innings, he gave up one run on three hits. Michael Cessna pitched the final inning. DJ Millier, Dominic Revetta, Ryan Venne and Mitchell Krebs had hits for the losers.
Lindenwood 11, Lee 3
Lindenwood exploded for nine runs in the sixth inning in posting its first win in three attempts against the Flames. Lee trailed by only a 2-0 margin before the Missouri squad unloaded against three of four hurlers in the sixth inning.
The roaring Lions pounded out 16 hits. Venne paced the hitting attack with a perfect 3-of-3 plate appearance, including a two-base knock. Kolby Schulte had two hits, a pair of RBI and scored once. Miller ripped a double and triple. Beckmann and Ryan Sosnowski also doubled.
The Flames got on the board in the bottom on the sixth with three markers. Beamish got the ball rolling with a two-run shot over the right-field wall. Alan Smith followed with a double and Blake Howard singled home Lee's other run. Justin Fragale and Ortiz collected the team's other hits.
Zazzaro pitched five solid innings for the Flames. He allowed eight hits, four earned runs, fanned two and walked two. Lefty Lance Hamilton followed and in 1/3 of an inning surrendered three runs on three hits. Submariner Winston Whitener allowed four hits and four earned runs while Davis Gurosky came on to put out the fire. In 1 2/3 innings he gave up one hit and no earned runs.
The Lions used three pitchers. Jacob Thompson was tough on Lee hitters and picked up the win. Over five innings he did not allow a run, giving up just one hit and recording five strikeouts and no walks. Brody Roach pitched one inning and ran into trouble, as the Flames tallied their three runs on three hits. Niko Marshall came on to close the door on the Lee hitters in the seventh, striking out two of the hitters he faced.
Coach Brew noted that timing and rhythm are tough for hitters to gain this early. "They will bounce back and we have a talented offensive team. We will keep working on what it takes to get our offense rolling at Saint Leo this coming weekend."
