VALDOSTA, Ga. – Strong pitching and timely hitting were the recipe that led the Lee University baseball team to a Gulf South Conference series sweep of Valdosta State University. The Flames (13-9, 6-3 GSC) defeated their hosts 8-5 in Saturday's opener and completed the day with a 4-1 margin in game two. Lee opened the series with an 8-0 shutout Friday evening.
"We shook up our pitching rotation and it paid off," said Lee head coach Mark Brew. "We've been giving up too many freebies and we only walked three batters all weekend.
The Flames used just five pitchers in the series where they allowed 11 hits and nine runs combined. The hurlers struck out 24 Blazers.
On the other hand, Valdosta State (12-6, 4-4 GSC) allowed 20 runs on 29 hits. VSU pitchers issued 13 free passes and fanned 25 Lee batters.
"It's tough to sweep anyone in the GSC, but we came on the road and swept the the No. 11 team in the country. It was an awesome effort by our team and a huge weekend for us moving forward," added Brew.
The Flames return home on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup against Young Harris College. The single nine-inning game is scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT. Lee lost a 1-0 contest at Young Harris back on February 4.
LEE 4, VALDOSTA STATE 1
The Flames plated four runs with two out in the second inning. Ryan Beamish's leadoff single was followed by two straight outs. Landon Silver walked to push Beamish to second. Keyshaun Smith singled to score Beamish. After Luke Hughes walked to load the bases, Thomas Zazzaro delivered a two-run single. Dylan Standifer pushed the Lee lead to 4-0 with an RBI single.
Randall Coxwell started and went 6 2/3 innings on his way to evening his record at 2-2. He retired the first eight batters he faced and held VSU hitless until the first batter in the fifth inning. Coxwell was tagged for two hits, one walk and an unearned run in the seventh inning before being relieved by Andrew Franklin.
Overall, Coxwell gave up one unearned run, three hits, struck out seven and walked two. Franklin induced a fielder's choice and a ground out to secure the win and pick up his first save of the season.
"Once again our starting pitching was key. Coxwell did a tremendous job and Franklin got two big outs at the end. We scratched enough runs in the second with some big hits by Zazzaro and Keyshaun Smith," said Brew.
Zazzaro and Standifer led the Lee offense with two hits each. Silver added a single to Lee's total of seven.
Cooper Cain (2-2) was charged with the loss after giving up four runs, seven hits, walking five and striking out eight in 6 1/3 innings.
LEE 8, VALDOSTA STATE 5
The Flames and Blazers had their biggest offensive outputs of the series with Lee pounding out 13 hits and VSU tallying seven safeties.
Alan Smith, Justin Fragale, Standifer, Silver and Hughes led the Flames with two hits each. The Blazers garnered two hits each from David Maberry and Mike Christopoulos.
VSU grabbed a 1-0 lead after Christopoulos followed Maberry's double with an RBI single in the fourth. The Flames responded with back-to-back bases loaded singles by Alan Smith and Fragale to take a 2-1 advantage.
The Blazers took advantage of two Lee errors to claim four runs in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead. Not to be outdone, the Flames posted five runs in the top of the sixth. Keyshaun Smith led off with a walk, Hughes singled and Zazzaro walked to load the bases. Standifer singled to score Smith. Alan Smith followed with a grand slam to go back up 7-5.
Seth Konkel put VSU down in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, while Zazzaro tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single in the seventh. The home team attempted a rally in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single, but Konkel recorded three straight outs to secure the win.
Tyler Fairchild started and went 4 2/3 innings before leaving the game. He gave up three runs (two earned), four hits, walked one and struck out three. Konkel (1-1) hurled the final 4 1/3 innings where he was tagged for three hits and two runs, while fanning two.
"Fairchild and Konkel did an awesome job and our response to there but inning was key. Alan Smith's long home run was huge and our guys really competed well," Brew added.
Weston Bizzle (0-1) was charged with the loss. He gave up three hits, including Alan Smith's grand slam.
