Battling cool temperatures and rain, Lee came from behind in both contests to post 9-3 and 7-5 victories over Urbana University (Ohio). It was the season openers for both clubs and they will close out the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Larry Carpenter Stadium.

Said Lee head coach Mark Brew: "I liked the aggressiveness and energy we played with. It was a great opening day crowd in spite of the cool temperature and occasional rain.  We have an opportunity to sweep tomorrow, but Urbana proved they aren't going away without a fight. We will need a big performance out of (pitcher) Alan Carter, clean up our defensive mistakes, and continue to grab clutch hits at the plate."

Game One: The Flames banged out six extra base hits against five Blue Knight pitchers. Senior Landon Silver and freshman Dylan Standifer led the way with two hits each. Silver homered and drove in a pair of runs. Standifer had a pair of doubles, scored once and plated two teammates.

The extra base knocks continued as senior Justin Fragale homered, scored once and collected two RBI. Junior Justen Freeman also ripped a two-base hit. Sophomore Thomas Zazzaro and senior Alan Smith joined in the two-hit parade. Senior Bryan Beamish also singled.

It was ironic that the home runs by Fragale and Silver hit the foul pole down the left-field line. That has probably never happened before at Olympic Field.

The Flames used five pitchers. Junior Logan Workman started and worked five innings and got credit for the win. He allowed three hits, no earned runs, fanned six and walked four. Sophomore Tyler Fairchild gave the Flames a solid inning that included two strikeouts. Senior Brandon Bolt came on for an inning while sophomore Alex Butler hurled the final two innings allowing two hits, no earned runs and striking out two.

"I thought the pitching staff did a really nice job working around some defensive miscues in the game until our offense was able to get rolling. Freshman Dylan Standifer had a nice start to his career at the plate," allowed the Lee skipper.

Urbana made the most of five hits and took advantage of three Lee errors. Briley Harlan had a pair of hits and drove in two runs. Robbie Guerrero had a hit and scored a run. Tyler Dellerman and Brett Bell had one hit each while Bell scored one of the five runs.

Blue Knights used five pitchers. Logan Fisher (3.2 innings) was charged with the loss while Jake Fishburn was the last of the five hurlers to work and gave Urbana two solid innings, giving up just one hit, fanning one and rallying a walk.

Game Two: Senior Cody Smith drilled a three-run homer in providing a big hit in the nightcap. The Flames made the best of six hits. Sophomore Josh Perez came up big with a double, single and drove in three key runs. He also scored once. Beamish and senior Parker Stahlman connected for doubles.

The Flames were down 1-0 before a rally put six runs on the board in the fourth inning. The Blue Knights did not go down without a fight and loaded the bases, forcing Coach Mark Brew to go to the bullpen and calling on senior closer Randall Coxwell. He quickly fielded a sharp ground ball hit back to the mound and turned it into a double play.

UT Knoxville transfer Alex Harper-Cook started for the Flames and allowed seven hits and three earned runs over four innings. He struck out eight Blue Knight hitters and walked two. In three innings of work, Coxwell gave up two hits, two unearned runs, struck out four and walked two. Harper-Cook got the win and Coxwell the save.

"I was really pleased with how we battled in the game. We didn't have much going early and to get the six-run inning in the 4th was huge. Cody's big swing seemed to get us going and Josh Perez had three really big RBI's as well. Harper-Cook really found his grove after the 2nd and pitched well until he hit his pitch count. Coxwell did a nice job in a long relief outing," concluded Brew.

Dellerman had a double, single and RBI for Urbana. Chase Carney proved to be a tough out with three hits, two RBI and a run scored. Quinton Roach tallied two hits and knocked in a run as did Harlan who also scored a run. Urbana used a pair of hurlers in the loss. Tyler Bess started and took the loss. In 3.2 innings, he gave up four hits and six earned runs. Josh Wessler came on for the final 2.1 innings and the freshman allowed a pair of hits, one earned run and struck out three.