FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Georgia – For the third straight game, the Lee baseball has come up one run short. The Flames rallied from seven runs down on Wednesday afternoon against host Emmanuel College but fell 7-6 in the non-conference contest.
Lee returns to Larry Carpenter Stadium for a three-game GSC series on Friday and Saturday and will celebrate Family Weekend. The opening pitch in the single nine-inning game on Friday against Auburn Montgomery is slated for 4 p.m.
The Flames rallied for four runs in the fifth inning after allowing the Lions to score one run in the first, three runs in the second and three more in the fourth to take the 7-0 lead.
JJ Williams and Nate Bynum singled to open the fifth. Thomas Zazzaro walked to load the bases and Joshua Perez had a one-base hit to drive home two runs. Dylan Standifer reached on a fielder's choice to plate another run and Jared Demkowicz reached on an error that allowed Standifer to score.
In the sixth, the Flames cut the margin to 7-5. Bynum singled and Adam Goolsby walked. Zazzaro drove home a run with a single. Lee rallied again in the eighth with another run to trim the final margin to 7-6. Williams tripled and an RBI ground out by Matthew Batts plated the runner.
Lee outhit the Lions 11-8 but the host club made the best of their hits with six earned runs. Standifer continued his outstanding hitting with three hits. He scored a run and had an RBI. Bynum also had three hits and tallied a run. Williams had two hits and scored twice. Zazzaro had a hit, RBI and a run scored. Perez knocked in two runs with one hit.
Lee's Greyson Linderman was the starting and losing pitcher. He worked two innings and gave up five hits and four earned runs. Two other Lee hurlers went to the mound before Kade Kozak, Jax Howard, Tim Gooden and Brycen Jewell came on to allow the Lions only one more hit and no runs the rest of the afternoon.
Emmanuel used six hurlers. Braden Henle pitched only 1.1 innings but got the win. Kyle Heuchert pitched the ninth and got the save. Luke Patty tripled and had two singles, driving in four runs and scored once for the winners. Brody Campbell doubled and knocked in a run while Khalib Bayona and Guy Anderberg had two hits each.
"It's always going to be a disappointing day when you spot another team seven runs. We showed some fight getting back into the game and finally got some of the right combinations on the mound, but the hole was too big," commented Coach Mark Brew after the tough loss. "We've got to start putting together some better performances from the start. We've played from behind way too much this year."
"We will get back to work at practice tomorrow and host a tough AUM team this weekend for our annual Parents Weekend," Brew concluded.
