HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Using steady pitching and a 14-hitting attack, the Lee baseball team earned a 2-1 series win over host University of Alabama at Huntsville with a 14-6 victory on Sunday afternoon at Charger Park.
After losing the opening game of the series on Saturday, the Flames came fighting back to claim the nightcap on Saturday evening and then walked away with the rubber victory on Sunday. The win improves Lee's overall mark to 5-6 and it improves to 2-1 in league play. The Flames will return to Larry Carpenter Stadium on Tuesday and host Carson Newman in a non-conference game slated for a 3 p.m. start.
The Flames put 10 runs on the board in the first five innings and held a 10-5 lead. The Chargers added a single run in the seventh inning before Lee put the contest out of reach with four runs in the top of the ninth inning.
It was a big day at the plate for freshman Malachi Cloud. He blasted a homerun, a double, drove in two runs and scored four times to help the Flames produce the key win. Riley Black also enjoyed an outstanding day at the dish. He blasted a pair of homeruns, finished with three hits and scored three runs.
The damage didn't stop there. Dylan Standifer tripled and finished with two hits, three RBI and scored a pair of runs. Brandon Daniels ripped a homer and a single, knocked in a pair of runs and crossed home plate twice. Noah Hattier and Luke Hughes also had two-base hits while Hattier scored three runs.
Cameron Land was called on for mound duties. He worked six innings, gave up eight hits, five runs (three earned runs), fanned two and did not issue a free pass. Greyson Linderman came on for the final three frames. He surrendered a pair of hits, one earned run, walked two and struck out two.
"What a response by the team," said a proud Lee coach Mark Brew. "We got huge offensive output all day. Land and Linderman did a tremendous job on a really good offensive team on a very windy day. Any GSC road series win is big and it's exciting to start conference play with a series win over a quality opponent like UAH."
For Huntsville, Brock Butler homered and drove in two runs while Landon Ezzell and Carson Villalta had two hits apiece. All totaled the Chargers collected 10 hits and no player past the fifth hitter collected a hit. Cole Loftis was one of eight Huntsville pitchers used and was charged with the loss.
