The streaking Lee baseball team moved into fifth place in the GSC standings in posting their seventh straight victory with a three-game sweep of University of Montevallo at Larry Carpenter Stadium this weekend. The Flames defeated the Falcons 7-5 and 3-1 on Saturday after winning on Friday 3-1. Lee improved to 12-9 in conference play and 20-14 overall. Montevallo stands at 9-12, 17-17.

The Flames will not play a mid-week game but will return to action on Friday and begin a three-game series with GSC power West Florida. Friday's first pitch is slated for 5 p.m. and Saturday's doubleheader will get underway at 1 p.m.

Game 1 – Lee 7, Montevallo 5
The Flames never trailed in posting the hard-fought victory in the opener on Saturday. They jumped on top 2-0 in the first inning. JJ Williams walked, and Luke Collier doubled home Williams. Later in the inning, Isaiah French picked up a RBI on a grounder to short that plated Collier.

The Falcons cut the margin to 2-1 in the top of the second inning on a homerun by Luke Mitchell. Montevallo tied the game in the top of the fourth on their second homerun of the contest on Connor Crowson's blast over the leftfield wall.

Lee went back on top in the bottom of the inning. Josiah Miller and Levi Cloud had one-base hits and Ashton Simmons moved both runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Williams picked up a pair of RBI with the third single of the inning to make it a 4-2 game.

The Falcons were not about to go away and tied the game again at four in the sixth inning. Jacob Pearl homered over the right-field wall. Evan Radford had a one-base hit and tied the game when Payton Stephenson stroked a double.

The Flames staged a three-run rally to retake the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Miller and Levi Cloud walked. Ryan Valdes moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Simmons knocked in a pair of key runs with his second hit of the day and later scored on an error by the Falcon shortstop, making it a 7-4 game.

The Falcons tacked on one run in the seventh and threatened in the eighth with a double play from Collier to Simmons and first baseman Tucker Platt ended the threat. Three straight outs by reliever Tim Gooden in the ninth gave Lee the hard-fought win.

Dylan Van Meeteren started and worked five innings for the Flames. He allowed seven hits and five earned runs. Seth Parker (4-0) came on for 1.1 innings and was credited with the win. He gave up four hits and two earned runs. Hunter Lane hurled 1.2 frames allowing two hits and no runs while Gooden pitched an inning and got his third save.

Matthew Bullard (5-3) was charged with the loss for Montevallo. In five innings he surrendered seven hits and five earned runs. Mason Creacy pitched the final three frames allowing three hits and only one earned run.

Game 2 – Lee 3, Montevallo 1
The final victory turned into a thriller for Lee. Malachi Cloud put the Flames on top 1-0 in the second inning with a homer. The margin reached 2-0 in the third. Collier drew a walk and scored on a double by Platt.

The Falcons cut the margin to 2-1 in the fourth. Radford opened the inning with a two-base hit. Mitchell singled to put runners on second and third. Stephenson reached to load the bases when the Flames were called for catcher's interference. Radford made it a 2-1 game when he scored on a sac fly.

In the play of the game, Daniel Irizarry stroked a one-base hit and Mitchell was nailed at the plate as he tried to score from second base on a perfect throw from leftfield by Malachi Cloud.

The Flames added an insurance run in the sixth inning. Malachi Cloud walked and stole second. He scored on a single by Simmons to make it a 3-1 contest. Williams had a double and a single. Collier also added two hits and scored a run while Malachi Cloud tallied a homer and scored another run.

Colt McKibben (4-0) started and worked four innings in picking up the win. He surrendered four hits and no earned runs. Will Baker came on for the final three frames and allowed just one hit and no earned runs.

Gino Cozzi (1-3) was the Montevallo starting pitcher. In four innings he gave up four hits and two earned runs. He was charged with the defeat. Garrett Sloan hurled the final two frames and gave up four hits and an earned run.


Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"I thought we pitched extremely well all weekend. Everyone that took the mound contributed and found ways to suppress a really good Montevallo offense.
 
"Our defense really showed up in a big way and we were able to get the timely hit when we needed to. We will take a little rest and get ready to battle a really good West Florida team."