Matthew Batts came off the bench to deliver a booming triple in the bottom of the 10^th inning and scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Jake Edwards to give the Flames a 7-6 victory over Tusculum University at Larry Carpenter Stadium on Tuesday evening. The Flames improved to 14-17 overall while the visiting Pioneers slipped to 13-17 in the non-conference contest.  

"It was a really good mid-week win for us. We needed to continue to create momentum heading into the Shorter series," said Lee head baseball coach Mark Brew. Lee will move back into GSC action on Friday and Saturday when the Flames travel to Rome, Georgia and face rival Shorter University.  

The Flames jumped on top in Tuesday's action 6-1 and appeared to be coasting before the Pioneers rallied with five big runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the contest at six apiece. Neither team was able to score again until Lee finally got on the board again in the bottom of the 10^th. 

The Flames' first run came in the third on a double by Nate Bynum. He scored on an RBI single by Thomas Zazzaro. The Lee shortstop finished the game with two hits.  

Tusculum tied the game at one apiece in the fourth. The Flames came right back with four big runs in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Brandon Daniels, Justen Freeman, Riley Majano, Jared Demkowicz and Edwards all reached on singles. With the exception of Edwards all scored, but it was Edwards who drove in two big RBI in the frame.  

In the fifth, Standifer doubled and scored on an RBI by Freeman. Daniels had a double and single in the win while Edwards knocked in three runs, including his game-winner. "Our offense had enough to get it done and Batts stepped up big for us in the 10^th," remarked the Lee coach. 

Ryan Dos Santos, Tyler Ranel and Blaze McCauley had two hits each for Tusculum. The Pioneers used five hurlers. Former Cleveland High hurler Harbor Jefferson started and worked 3.1 innings. Justin Parker came on for 1.2 innings and was charged with the loss.  

The Flames sent eight pitchers to the mound. Alan Zhang Carter pitched the first two innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out three. Freshman Landon Maynor was impressive again with three innings of work while Zazzaro (1-0) was called on to pitch the 10^th inning and recorded his first win of the season.  

"Maynor once again did an excellent job late allowing us to get the walk-off win. It was good to see Carter back out there again. He's looking really close to the pitcher that finished the season in 2021," said Brew in closing.