After unloading 37 combined runs in yesterday's doubleheader it was a squeeze bunt that made the difference as the Lee baseball team defeated Bellarmine, 5-4 in Wednesday's series finale from Olympic Field.

With the score tied at four in the bottom of the eighth the Flames used small ball to find the go-ahead run. Keshaun Smith started things off with a walk and advanced all the way to third on a perfect hit-and-run as Tyler Payne slashed the ball through the right-side of the infield. 

That set the stage for Parker Stahlman who executed a perfect safety squeeze to score Payne. Stahlman dragged the ball right down the first baseline and beat the throw out to earn a bunt single RBI.

"Tyler did an excellent job executing the slash play and Parker came up with an outstanding bunt and that was the difference. When you execute like we did that puts a lot of pressure on the opposing defense," said Lee head coach Mark Brew. 

Justin Fragale doubled home two runs in the first inning to give the Flames a 2-1 advantage. Bellarmine would tack on three runs in the second inning to take a 4-2 lead on a sacrifice fly by Justin Rouse, a single by Matt Higgins and a dropped fly ball in right field off the bat of Zac Wiley.

Thomas Zazzaro double and would later score on a wild pitch in the third inning to pull Lee within a run at 4-3.
Both pitching staffs would throw up zeroes until Ryan Beamish drilled a single to center in the seventh to knot things up at 4-4.

Ian Turner started a tossed three innings in getting a no-decision. The lefty allowed seven hits and four runs, three earned, but didn't get much help from his defense with as the Flames committed two errors and misplayed a few more balls to help the Knights score early.

From there however the Lee pitching staff took over with junior Michael Hendricks throwing four shutout innings, allowing just two hits, no walks while striking out four.

Logan Workman (1-1) got the win as he pitched 1.1 and worked around three walks to keep the Knights off the board. The sophomore ran into some trouble in the ninth but Brandon Thompson slammed the door shut to earn his second save of the season.

"Mike Hendricks came out of the bullpen and gave us a tremendous four innings to give us a chance to get to the end and find a way to rally and get the win so hats off to him," said Brew. "Obviously Workman and Thompson squeezing the outs there at the end. It's a good series win for us, Bellarmine is a good team, they were ranked preseason top 10 and No. 1 in their region so though they aren't playing as well you can see they have the ability to be a top 10 team." 

Kyle Beach got the call on the bump for the Knights and gave up three runs on three hits in three innings. Brandon Pfaadt was effective in four innings of relief. He allowed just one run, two walks, three hits and fanned four. Nick Parrish was tagged with the loss giving up a run in the eighth.

Chris Gambert led the 10-hit attack for Bellarmine with two singles and a double. Designated hitter Travis Lines went 2 for 2 and scored a run.

The Flames (10-9) will finally jump back into Gulf South Conference play this weekend as they travel to take on Alabama Huntsville in a three-game series beginning Sunday at 3 p.m. Bellarmine falls to 7-6 with the loss.

"It's (this weekend) a big series against a really quality opponent. They are third and we are fourth in the standings so its a chance for one team to separate themselves. Huntsville is historically been a really good program in the conference so we will need to play well and pitch well. I think we are trending in the right direction, particularly offensively so I think we have a great opportunity to go down there and have a good series," concluded Brew.