SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Lee baseball team will look to put this weekend in the rear view mirror as the Flames suffered a series sweep at No. 23 Saint Leo on Saturday afternoon.
The Flames appeared poised to salvage the final game of the series in Saturdya's night cap holding a 7-5 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning but the Lions struck for four runs to claim the 9-5 win and the sweep.
Lee struggled to get much of anything going in game one, losing 12-2.
"It was a tough weekend. Saint Leo definitely played better than we did in all phases of the game," said Lee head coach Mark Brew. "We made way too many mistakes to win against a quality opponent. We need a great week of practice to prepare for Valdosta State."
The Flames will get back to work this weekend as they open up newly-renovated Olympic Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. against GSC rival Valdosta State. Lee will play a doubleheader on Saturday and wrap up the series with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
LEE 7 SAINT LEO 9
The Saint Leo Lions used a four-run eighth inning to earn a 9-7 comeback victory over the Flames.
Peyton Isaacson hit a two-run double to start the rally before Lee pitchers hit back to back batters with the bases loaded to surrendered the lead.
Keshaun Smith got the Flames on the board first with RBI singles in the first and third innings. Joshua Perez made it 4-0 Lee with a two-run double in the third before Saint Leo began to chip away.
Jared Morello got the Lions going with a two-run homer in the third. Morello finished with three hits and three RBI as she single d home a run in the fourth.
Alan Smith continued his hot start at the dish for Lee with a RBI double in the fifth and came around to score his fourth run of the game on a fielding error to give the Flames a 7-3 advantage.
From there it was all Lions as they scored six unanswered runs to close out the game. The rally started with two unearned runs in the fifth before the four-run eighth inning.
Brady McGarry (1-0) delivered 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win for Saint Leo. Logan Workman was tagged with the loss as he labored through 2/3 innings giving up four runs and three walks.
Trevor Sanchez worked a clean ninth inning for his third save and second of the series.
LEE 2 SAINT LEO 12
The Lions offense exploded for 12 hits and drew seven walks in a 12-2 win over Lee in Saturday's opener.
Isaacson and Danny Torres hit home runs for Saint Leo while leadoff hitter Amir Wright had three hits and walked twice.
The two bright spots for the Flames in the game were solo home runs from Miguel Pimentel and Landon Silver.
Other than that it was all Lions. Shane Haight (1-0) started and allowed just one run on three hits in six innings of work. Haight struck out four and did not walk a batter. Kaleb Huxford earned the save thanks to three innings of relief, allowing just one run and two hits. Huxford also punched out four.
Not much went right for the Flames on the mound. Alan Rickman (0-1) started and was chased after four innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits. Rickman struck out five and issued three walks.
