In a couple of games that went wire to wire, including the second contest that went to 11 innings under the Gulf South Conference rules this year, the Lee baseball team ranked 8^th in the nation, had to battle visiting Delta State on Saturday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium on Olympic Field.
  
The Flames squeezed out a 4-3 victory in the opener and then won the international affair 3-2. Both contests featured outstanding pitching and some amazing defensive plays. The wins improved Lee to 13-2 overall and 12-1 in GSC play. The disappointed Statesmen dropped to 6-8 overall and 5-8 in league play.  

"I thought our pitching staff did a solid job today. Our defense had some huge plays including some big double plays out of our middle infield. We had some hard hit balls offensively that didn't fall, but we stuck with it and found a way to get enough runs to get the sweep," stated Coach Mark Brew after the wins. The two clubs are slated to tangle again on Sunday at 1 p.m. "Delta State really has a good team and too much pride to lay down tomorrow. We will need another great team effort tomorrow, but I expect us to be ready from the beginning," the Lee coach added.

Game 1 – Lee 4, Delta State 3 
The Flames returned to action after having the bye last weekend against conference competition. A well-rested Logan Workman pitched five innings and recorded his second win of the year. He allowed four hits, two earned runs, struck out eight and walked three. Tyler Fairchild followed for an inning before Michael Hendricks came in for 1.1 innings and Andy Rivera worked the final 1.2 innings to pick up his third save of the year. Rivera did not allow a hit and fanned one. Hunter Riggins went the distance for the Statesmen. In the loss, he allowed nine hits and three earned runs. 

Ryan Beamish put the Flames on top 2-0 with his fifth home run of the year that scored Alan Smith, who had earlier singled. Smith also doubled in the fifth inning and collected a RBI that scored Thomas Zazzaro, who opened the inning with a two-base hit. Dylan Standifer collected a double and a single and Landon Silver also chipped in with two hits. 

Hayden White had three hits for Delta State, including a double. He crossed the dish after a long homer by teammate Kirkland Trahan. Donovon Shows picked up two of the Statesmen's eight hits in the loss.  

Game 2 – Lee 3, Delta State 2 – 11 Innings   
The Flames got 11 solid innings of pitching from Seth Konkel and Chandler Ring. Konkel hurled the first six and allowed four hits, two earned runs, walked five and struck out four. However, it was Ring who worked magic over the next five innings. He did not allow a hit, walked two and fanned seven in picking up the pitching win. Ring had only pitched in six innings the entire year before Saturday's performance. 

"I want to single out the job of Chandler Ring in game 2. He was lights out and made some huge pitches and traded zeros with Delta State until Yeager got the big hit at the end," praised Coach Brew.
 
On the other side of the ledger, Christian Day pitched seven solid innings for Delta State. He allowed six hits, two earned runs, striking out seven and walking one. TJ Childress came on for three innings and also pitched well before giving up the deciding blow to the Flames in the 11^th. 

After turning away two scoring attempts by the Statesmen in the 10^th and 11^th innings, the Flames put Nate Sumner into the contest to run for Beamish who opened the 11^th. Standifer put down a sacrifice bunt and the thriller ended when Colton Yeager singled to right, scoring Sumner. 

Smith had a pair of singles in the win. Yeager also finished with a pair of hits and the key RBI while Silver ripped his sixth homer of the year. Delta State was limited to just four hits. Josh Smeltzer doubled and drove home a run while Jake Barlow had two hits and drove in the Statesmen's only other run.