CLEVELAND, Tenn.-Freshman Malachi Cloud's walk-off homerun over the right-field wall in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Lee baseball team a thrilling 7-6 victory over visiting Montevallo University and a sweep of the two games played on Friday afternoon. The Flames also won the opener in comeback fashion when Dylan Standifer singled in the bottom of the eighth to drive home two runs in the 8-7 win.
It was a three-game GSC series of exciting baseball at Larry Carpenter Stadium. The Falcons won the three-game series opener on Thursday by scoring six runs in the top of the ninth inning in winning 19-16. Lee's record stands at 20-17 overall and improves to 10-11 in conference play. Montevallo drops to 29-9, 14-7. The Flames return to action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they host Tusculum College in a non-conference game.
"What an amazing come back today by this team," commented Lee head coach Mark Brew. "It would have been easy to lay down after the struggles we had in the ninth-inning yesterday. My hat is off to this team and how much they fought for everything we did today. There are too many heroes to mention, and it took a full roster to sweep a very good Montevallo team. It was a crazy couple of days of baseball and weather and I'm super proud of the guys."
Game 1 – Lee 8, Montevallo 7
The Falcons jumped on top in the third inning with two runs when Ben Teel homered. The Flames cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning and then came back to go on top 4-2 in the fourth. Brandon Daniels led off the inning with a solo homer. Cloud doubled, Riley Black walked and Isaac Quinones drove home a run with a single. Gavin Baxter put down a sacrifice squeeze bunt that scored Black.
It was Montevallo's turn to come back in the fifth inning when the visitors went back on top 5-4. Evan Liddie and Teel had one-base knocks before Asa Awbrey drove home a pair of runs with a single. Lee starting pitcher Jack Nedrow got the final out of the inning on a strikeout. The margin grew to 6-4 before Sean Casteel was called on to cool the Falcons bats after one run has scored in the sixth inning.
The Flames tied the game at seven with two runs in the seventh when Standifer delivered another one-base hit and Cam Suto ripped his 11th homerun over the right-centerfield wall. Standifer produced his third hit of the contest in the bottom of the eighth. Black walked and Quinones reached on a single before the ever-present Standifer delivered a two-run one-base hit to put the Flames on top for good, 8-7.
Standifer's three-hit game was followed with two hits by Josiah Miller and Quinones. Noah Hattier and Baxter had a hit and an RBI. Nedrow worked 5.2 innings. He allowed five hits and four earned runs, striking out seven and walking five. Casteel pitched 1.2 frames and gave up three hits and no earned runs. David White was impressive in retiring a couple of batters while Hunter Lane came on to get his fifth save of the year and pitched one full inning.
In the ninth inning, Montevallo had the tying and go-ahead runners on base when Liddie ripped a shot just inside the third-base line. Miller dove towards the line and made an outstanding catch to end the contest and help give the Flames the important win.
Game 2 – Lee 7, Montevallo 6
The exciting three-game series which had more ups and down than a rollercoaster came to a close with Cloud's walk-off blast in the seventh. The inning began when Miller was hit by a pitch. After a fly-out by Daniels, Montevallo went to the bullpen and called on their fourth pitcher of the game in Danny Glenos. The first pitch he delivered sailed over the right-field wall and the entire Lee bench jumped onto the field with its biggest celebration of the year.
All totaled the Flames only collected five hits while Montevallo had 10 hits in the loss. Lee's Frankie Volkers started and pitched two innings. The lefty gave up one hit, struck out three and walked two. Greyson Linderman worked the next three innings and surrendered six hits and four earned runs while striking out five. Jax Howard came on to pitch 1.1 innings and worked the Flames out of a jam in the sixth. Lane made his second appearance of the day. He retired a pair of hitters and got credit for the pitching win.
Sam Kuchinski homered and scored a pair of runs for the Falcons. Awbrey had two hits, including a double and scored a run. Alex Langford came in to post a key triple and an RBI while Teel and Latimer banged out two-base hits and knocked in runs. Khalid Collymore had a hit, an RBI and scored a run in the loss.
After falling behind 1-0 in the third inning, Standifer went to work again. He drilled his 11thhomer of the year that scored Hattier to put the Flames on top 2-1. The Falcons would go back into the lead at 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning but Lee rebounded with three runs of their own to reclaim the upper hand at 5-4.
No lead was safe in the contest. Montevallo regained the lead 6-5 in the top of the seventh inning with a pair of doubles by Latimer and Collymore. The Flames were also guilty of a couple of key errors in the frame.
The Flames shot the Falcons down in the bottom of the seventh when the freshman Cloud rose up out of the sprinkling rain to lift the ball over the right-field fence and end the emotional weekend.
