CLEVELAND, Tenn.-Riley Black's long homerun in the top of the first inning highlighted a frame in which the Lee baseball team plated four runs and never trailed in a 6-4 victory over visiting Carson-Newman University on Tuesday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium. The win was the third straight for the Flames and pushed their overall record to 6-6. The Eagles dropped to 5-7.
The Flames will jump right back into Gulf South Conference action on Friday when they are scheduled to host a single game against West Georgia beginning at 3 p.m. The two teams will return to Olympic Field on Saturday for a doubleheader slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
"It was a solid win against an always gritty Carson-Newman team," stated Lee coach Mark Brew. "Our pitching staff did a solid job all day. I thought Seth Coffelt and Timmy Gooden gave us a nice lift in the middle innings. It was a huge rally in the first to grab four runs after no one was on base and two outs. Two-out RBI's can win you a lot of games and we were able to get them today."
With two outs in the first inning, Brandon Daniels was hit by a pitch. Cam Suto followed with a single. Josiah Miller doubled to drive home both Daniels and Suto. Black followed with the homer to give the Flames a 4-1 lead. Black finished with two hits, scored two runs and drove home two. Suto had a pair of hits and an RBI. Gavin Baxter had two hits while Noah Hattier, Dylan Standifer and Daniels had one knock each to round out Lee's 10-hit attack.
Coach Brew sent six pitchers to the mound and five turned in solid performances. Colt McKibben started and pitched 2.1 innings. He allowed four hits and two earned runs. Gooden entered in the third, pitched the Flames out of a jam and worked 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit and no earned runs. Coffelt followed for 2.0 innings of no-hit ball. He fanned three. David Wright was next for an inning. Sam Fulton ran into trouble in the ninth before Hunter Lane came on to get the final two outs and earn the save after the Eagles had scored two runs.
Ryan Potts and William Gibbs were the only Eagle players with two hits. Gibbs also had an RBI. Trey Miller had a one-base knock and collected an RBI. Dalton McLain had a hit and a run scored while Luke Goforth came on as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. He banged out a single and scored a run as did Cade Burkey.
Carson-Newman used seven pitchers. Starter Brock Culpepper was charged with the loss. In four innings, he surrendered three hits and four earned runs.
