PENSACOLA, Florida – Logan Workman fired 128 pitches over eight innings and Andy Rivera came on to work in the ninth as the Lee baseball team advanced to the second round of the South Regional Tournament with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over the University of Alabama Huntsville. The Flames will face Tampa University on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Workman's record improved to 8-1 while Rivera picked up his 10
th save. Overall, the Flames improved to 35-9 while Huntsville dropped to 22-19. The hard-throwing right-hander returned to the mound in the ninth inning but when the Chargers put a pair of runners on base, Coach Mark Brew quickly went to his bullpen and called on Rivera.
Workman allowed just four hits. He struck out nine and walked three. Rivera was perfect when called on in the ninth. "What a performance by Logan Workman. He provided us with what an ace should and was dominant. Rivera was lights out in the ninth and our defense continues to be stellar. Our offense was opportunistic and found ways to scratch runs. It will be a challenge tomorrow, but this team is ready to go. It should be a great game," commented Coach Brew.
"I wanted to finish the game, that was first and foremost. I knew Andy was ready though and he closed it out for us," said Workman. "The emotion was there from the start. It is a region game and I just wanted to leave everything on the field today.
"I have enjoyed every moment with this team and program. These guys are just really special, and we all believe in each other. They leave it all out there and I wanted to go out there and battle for them and put a win on the board today and we were able to do that. Our coaches have instilled a sense of belief in what we can accomplish, and we just want to keep this thing rolling," concluded Workman.
Huntsville jumped on top with a single run in the third inning, but the Flames rallied right back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the frame. Neither team scored again until the seventh inning when Landon Silver blasted a moon shot off the leftfield flagpole for his 12
th homerun of the year. Lee would add another key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth.
Colton Yeager and Riley Black had two hits. Yeager collected an RBI while Black scored one of Lee's four runs to join Yeager in pacing the Flames. Nate Bynum had a hit and scored a run while Alan Smith had a one-base knock, scored a run and collected an RBI. Ryan Beamish also had a hit and RBI.
Huntsville got 6.2 innings of solid work from lefty Kody Keiser. He allowed three earned runs. Heath Senn followed for 1.1 innings. Garrett Bodine doubled and collected the only Charger RBI. Colin Brewer, Tyler McGowan and Brett Barbee had the other hits for the losers.
