CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Luke Collier delivered a homerun, a single and drove in four runs while Will Baker and Nelson Smith turned in solid pitching performances in leading the Lee University baseball team to a 14-10 victory over Hillsdale College (Mich.) at Larry Carpenter Stadium on Friday evening.
Baker worked five innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs, struck out five and walked two while Smith pitched three innings and surrendered three hits, one earned run, fanned three and issued one free pass. The lefty Baker (1-1) was credited with the pitching win. Cal Goss, Eric Boggess and Hunter Lane were also called on for mound duties.
Lee improved to 3-2 on the year while Hillsdale opened its season with the loss. The two teams will tangle again on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
The Flames exploded for seven runs in the third inning and were never seriously challenged. Hillsdale pitchers issued five walks in the inning and Collier made the pitchers pay with a three-run homer while Ashton Simmons drove in a run with a one-base hit.
The visitors cut the lead to 8-3 in the fourth inning. Augie Hutchinson blasted a triple that plated runners that had reached on a pair of singles and a fielder's choice.
Lee went back to work and put five more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brock Sisson delivered a solo homer, Levi Cloud doubled and JJ Williams knocked in two runs with a two-base hit. Collier continued his big evening with a one-base hit that plated a run to make it a 14-4 lead.
Hillsdale took advantage of Lee pitching changes in the ninth inning and scored six runs on five hits, all singles. Flame hurlers also issued a pair of free passes in the inning and hit a batter before Coach Mark Brew called on veteran pitcher Hunter Lane, who struck out back-to-back Hillsdale batters to end the contest.
While Collier was leading the way at the plate, Isaiah French and Levi Cloud joined Collier with two hits apiece. Levi doubled twice and scored two times while French banged out a pair of singles, scored once and collected a RBI. Williams finished with three RBI and two runs scored. Malachi Cloud and Simmons had Lee's other runs batted in. Simmons also scored a pair of runs.
Daniel Higdon was the starting and losing Hillsdale pitcher. Over 2.1 innings he allowed one hit, four earned runs but struggled with control problems, walking eight batters. All totaled, the Michigan club used six pitchers and issued 14 free passes while striking out nine Lee hitters. On the other hand, Lee issued five walks, hit two batters and struck out 10.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"It was good to see Will Baker have a strong performance and I really liked the way Nelson threw the baseball today. Our offense stepped up led by Luke Collier. He had some really good plate appearances. Hillsdale battled and never gave up and we will have to come out with a compete-mindset for 16 innings tomorrow."
