Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With freshman Casen Youngblood and senior Luke Collier leading Lee's 12-hit parade and sophomore right-hander Evan Bloomer pitching 6.1 innings to pick up his second win of the season, the Lee baseball team posted an 11-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series with the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Friday afternoon.
The win was the Flames first in Gulf South Conference play (1-3) and they improved to 8-3 overall. The Chargers dropped to 3-1 in conference action and 4-7 in total games. The two clubs are scheduled for a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday.
Youngblood pushed the Flames out to a 5-1 lead in the third inning with a grand-slam home run. The first-year Lee player blasted his second four-bagger of the afternoon in the sixth inning and finished the day with five RBI. Collier continued to swing the hot bat. He was the only Flame with three hits. The senior stroked his first homer of the year and collected three RBI while scoring a pair of runs.
Lee also got two hits from Ryan Valdes and sophomore Braden Gabel, who ripped two doubles, drove in one run and scored once. Valdes contributed a two-base hit and crossed home plate twice. JJ Williams chipped in with a two-base knock. He also scored a couple of runs. Isaiah French and Cody Turner had the Flames other hits.
Bloomer allowed eight hits and no earned runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out six. Alex Brew, a freshman left-hander, was solid in his second performance of the year. He worked 1.2 innings, gave up a hit and fanned one and also issued no walks. Tyler Pickens was called on for the ninth inning and did not allow a hit. He walked one and struck out one. The Flames were guilty of three errors.
The Chargers collected nine hits. CJ Carson, Caleb Mahan and Braxton Griffin each had two hits and drove in one run apiece. Cole Loftis was the starting UAH pitcher. He hurled the first four innings and allowed six hits and six earned runs. Five other Charger pitchers followed Loftis to the mound.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"I'm really proud of how we opened the series and played in our first game away from home. Bloomer was strong again, and Brew and Pickens gave big outs from the pen. Freshmen Casen Youngblood had a big day for us to help get us get separated from them in the fourth inning. Luke Collier swung it well also. We also executed better today offensively to keep extending the lead. We've got a chance to get a series tomorrow, but we do need to clean up some defensive mistakes we had today."
