ROME, Georgia – Rallying back twice and playing what Lee baseball coach Mark Brew called one of his team's more complete wins in a while, the Flames defeated host Shorter University on Friday afternoon, 7-4. It was the third straight win for the Brew Crew and they improved to 15-17 overall and 8-10 in conference play. Shorter slipped to 17-13, 9-9.
"This was a great road win. We knew it would be a tough series for us and made even tougher facing the reigning GSC Pitcher of the Year in (Jonathan) Pintaro," praised Brew. The three-game series will continue on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
The Hawks played small ball in the bottom of the third inning and broke open a scoreless battle with a pair of runs. A single was followed by a bunt that placed runners on first and second with no outs. A second straight bunt resulted in a throwing error and allowed two Shorter runners to score on the play.
The Flames finally got to Hawk starter Pintaro in the sixth inning. Nate Bynum put down a bunt single and Thomas Zazzaro ripped a homer over the left-field fence to tie the game at 2.
Shorter bounced back on top in the bottom of the seventh. Cory Mason homered to right and Andres Ferreiro walked. Coach Brew went to the mound and replaced Cameron Land who worked six strong innings. He allowed only two earned runs, struck out five and issued a pair of free passes.
Big Sam Fulton was called on to pitch the remaining three innings. He delivered by allowing just two hits, no earned runs, no walks and striking out three. He got credit for his third win of the year. However, after the Hawks sacrificed Ferreiro to second, Norman Leon plated the second run of the inning and gave his team a 4-2 advantage.
Lee came up with its biggest rally of the year in the top of the eighth. Zazzaro walked and reached second on a ground out by Justen Freeman. Dylan Standifer singled home Zazzaro. Carson Cook was called on to replace Pintaro, but the Flames were far from finished.
Brandon Daniels promptly doubled to left field to score Standifer. For the second straight game, Matthew Batts delivered a key blow. The lefty blasted a homerun over the center-field fence that scored Daniels and Cam Suto, who had singled earlier. All of a sudden, Lee was on top 7-4 and Fulton had all the cushion the right-hander needed.
All nine Flames in the batting order had one hit apiece. Zazzaro scored twice. Standifer, Suto, Daniels, Batts and Bynum tallied the runs.
"Our guys did a great job keeping it close until we could get those big swings late. It's one of the more complete team wins we've had in a while," pointed out Brew. "We turn our focus to tomorrow. It's a new day and we need to continue to put together a solid team performance."
