MEMPHIS, Tennessee – Lee turned away a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth inning and defeated host Christian Brothers University, 7-6 on Sunday afternoon in GSC baseball action at Nadlcksbernd Field. The victory gave the Flames two wins in the three-game series.
"It was a hard fought series win for us. Anytime you get a road series win in the GSC you take it and get out of town," commented Coach Mark Brew after his team improved to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in GSC play. The Bucs slipped to 3-13, 1-8. The Flames are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday and Wednesday, hosting Bellarmine University (Kentucky) in single nine-inning games.
Lee jumped on top 2-0 in the top of the second inning. Justin Fragale and Dylan Standifer singled. Justen Freeman collected a RBI single and Thomas Zazzaro came up with one of his four hits on the afternoon to plate Standifer.
The Bucs evened the score at two in the bottom of the second inning, and took a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the third.
The Flames put four big runs on the board in the fourth and tied the contest at six. Standifer was hit by a pitch, Landon Silver singled, Josh Perez collected a RBI one-base knock and Zazzaro followed with his second hit of the day. Luke Hughes posted a RBI single and a sac-fly to center by Alan Smith scored Perez. Ryan Beamish rounded out the inning with a double that pushed Zazzaro across the dish.
The winning run was posted in the top of the sixth inning. Zazzaro got things started with a single and a ground out by Hughes pushed Zazzaro to second. Smith's single scored Zazzaro to put the Flames on top for good, 7-6. Lee made the best of 12 hits and Zazzaro was the only Flame with more than one hit.
Lee used five pitchers in the win. Alan Carter started and hurled 2.1 innings, allowing four earned runs, fanning and walking four. Seth Konkel entered for 1.2 innings. He surrendered a pair of earned runs, struck out three and walked two. Alex Butler (1-2) was the third pitcher of the afternoon and picked up the win. In 1.1 innings he gave up a hit, struck out two and issued three free passes.
Brandon Bolt steadied the ship for three innings. He did give up four hits, no earned runs and fanned a pair. Michael Hendricks came on to get his first save of the year. In 0.2 innings he walked one and did not give up a run.
"We got some huge double plays and played great defense. Bolt did a tremendous job settling us down and stringing together some zeros on the scoreboard. Hendricks made some big pitches to grab those final crucial outs," explained Coach Brew after his club toughed-out the win.
Jamie Soto and Keagan Voss had three hits each to lead the Christian Brothers hitters. Voss joined Will Turner with doubles. Turner also collected two RBI. Nick Myers (0-4) started and was charged with the loss. He pitched six innings, allowing 11 hits and seven earned runs. Travis Cole hurled the final three frames.
