The Lee baseball team opened its home schedule with a doubleheader sweep of Lindenwood University (Missouri) on Saturday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium. The Flames improved their record to 4-2 on the year and will be back on the diamond again on Sunday afternoon at 1 when they host the final game of the three-game series.
Miguel Alba got the pitching victory in the 13-5 opener. He worked six innings of two-hit ball, walked one and struck out eight. Sean Casteel came on for a pair of innings and allowed five hits, two earned runs and struck out two.
Lee scored a single run in the first innings, two in the second, another run in the sixth before salting the victory away with nine big runs in the seventh inning. Lindenwood got its tallies in the seventh and ninth innings.
Lee collected a total of 13 hits. Nate Bynum had three hits, including a pair of doubles. He also drove in three runs and scored once. Justen Freeman countered with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Luke Hughes ripped his first homerun of the season. He posted a pair of hits, scored twice and got on the board with two RBI. Thomas Zazzaro doubled and finished with two hits and tallied a pair of runs. Dylan Standifer joined the hit parade with his third double of the year, two runs batted in and a run scored. Jared Demkowicz had a hit, RBI and two runs scored.
Genesis Nunez was the only Lindenwood player with two hits. Austin Schmitt doubled, scored a run and collected an RBI. Tyler Cassmeyer was the starting and losing pitcher for the Lions. He worked four innings and gave up seven hits and three earned runs. Three other hurlers followed Cassmeyer to the mound.
Game Two - Lee 11, Lindenwood 4
The Flames went right back to work in the second game and scored runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings in the 11-4 victory. The Lions jumped on top 2-1 in the top of the first and tied the contest in the second only to see the Flames capture the lead in the fourth and never looked back.
Jack Nedrow pitched five innings of four-hit ball to even his record to 1-1 on the year. He allowed four hits, three earned runs, struck out six and walked three. Kade Kozak came on for 0.1 inning and walked three batters and gave up an earned run. Tim Gooden pitched the final 1.2 innings. He did not allow a hit or run with an impressive five strikeouts.
The Flames pounded out 15 hits. Standifer had a double and drove in four big runs while scoring twice. Zazzaro had a pair of doubles and two singles. He drove home a run and scored twice. Justen Freeman added two hits, an RBI and scored two runs. Matthew Batts joined Zazzaro with a three-hit performance, including a two-base hit. He knocked in two runs and scored once. Catcher Isaac Quinones had two hits and an RBI. Bynum continued his fine day with a double, single and three runs scored. Brandon Daniels knocked in two runs with his one-base hit.
The Lions were held to just four hits. Jack Meyer doubled and plated two runs while scoring once. Connor Adams also doubled and tallied one of his teams four scores. Niko Marshall was the starting and losing Lindenwood pitcher. He worked the first two innings and gave up six hits and four earned runs. Two other Lion hurlers followed Marshall to the mound.
?"The offense was solid all day. We missed a few opportunities early in game one, but we did a great job of getting the big inning multiple times today," remarked Coach Mark Brew after the opening victories. "Alba continues to throw the ball well and I was really pleased how Nedrow turned his performance around after giving up three runs early."
"Tomorrow will be a different day and we will need to continue to show improvement. I'm excited to see how Cameron Land looks in a starting role," concluded the Lee skipper.
