Three Lee pitchers combined to hold No. 1-ranked Tampa University to only seven hits in a doubleheader sweep of the Spartans on Saturday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium. The Flames rode the excellent pitching to 8-5 and 2-0 victories.
"What an awesome job by our team today and I couldn't be more proud. Our pitching was incredible all day and to hold a really good Tampa offense down is an incredible job by our staff," commented a pleased and emotional coach Mark Brew.
The defeats dropped visiting Tampa to 30-5 on the year and gave Lee two-of-three wins over the powerhouse from the Sunshine State Conference. The Flames, who have won seven of their last eight games, improved to 18-17.
They will face another challenge on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they host 8
th-ranked Trevecca Nazarene. "We've got another huge test with a really good Trevecca team, and we will need another great team performance," added Brew.
The coach went on to say, "Jared Demkowicz had a big game one offensively. We found a way to scratch a couple of runs in game two off the bats of Dylan Standifer and Matthew Batts. I thought our defense was excellent all day."
Game 2 – Lee 2, Tampa 0
Freshman Jack Nedrow (6-4) pitched the complete seven innings and shut out the hard-hitting Spartans for the first time this season. He gave up only three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three. Tampa pitcher Nick Long (6-1) was charged with the loss. He worked four innings and allowed three hits, two earned runs, struck out seven and walked two. Braydon Nelson hurled the final two innings and surrendered two hits and no runs.
The Flames made the best of only five hits in the thrilling win. In the first inning Thomas Zazzaro walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI double by Dylan Standifer. Lee's other run came in the fourth inning. Issac Quinones was hit by a pitch. Cam Suto walked, and Matthew Batts delivered a key single that plated Quinones with Lee's second run.
Batts finished with a 2-for-2 day while Zazzaro singled in the fifth and Brandon Daniels had a hit in the sixth.
Nedrow had a perfect game going until Guovany Lorenzo singled with two outs in the fifth inning. Luke Glancy followed with another one-base knock, but Nedrow got a pop-up to end the inning.
The Spartans had their biggest threat in the sixth. Nicholas Winkelmeyer reached on an error and Jordan Lala singled to put runners on first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt by Drew Ehrhard pushed the runners to second and third. Nedrow quickly got the three and four hitters in the Tampa lineup to fly out and end the scoring threat. In the seventh Tampa went down in order to give Lee and Nedrow the huge victory.
Game 1 – Lee 8, Tampa 5
Jared Demkowicz drove in six runs and scored a pair in the victory. The Lee first baseman grounded out to drive in a run in the first inning. He ripped a three-run homer in the third inning and drove home two more runs with a double in the fifth inning. He scored runs in the third and fifth innings.
Lee quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Zazzaro walked, Justen Freeman singled, and Zazzaro scored on a double by Brandon Daniels. Demkowicz's hard smash to short plated Freeman with the second run of the inning.
The margin reached 5-0 in the third inning. Freeman doubled down the left-field line and Standifer followed with a one-base hit. Demkowicz homered over the right-center-field wall, collecting three RBI. The Flames put the contest out of reach in the fifth. Standifer walked and Daniels followed with his second hit of the afternoon. Demkowicz continued to swing the hot bat with a two-base hit that pushed two more runs across the plate. Quinones got into the act with a double that scored Demkowicz.
All totaled the Flames had 11 hits in the victory. Freeman, Daniels and Demkowicz had two hits each. Freeman, Standifer and Demkowicz scored twice. Joshua Perez, Jake Edwards and Nate Bynum also hit safely in the win.
Miguel Alba (3-2) pitched 5.1 innings and picked up the win. He allowed just two hits but walked five and surrendered five earned runs. Sam Fulton came in for 3.2 innings of solid relief and was credited with his second save of the year. He allowed just two hits, struck out two and walked one.
Alba held the Spartans without a hit until E.J. Cumbo homered in the fourth inning. Tampa staged a four-run rally in the sixth. After three straight walks Dan Sullivan blasted a grand slam homer far over the right-center-field wall to make it an 8-5 game. Fulton came on in relief to quickly settle things down and record 10 outs while allowing just one hit and one free pass.
