CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Hitting, pitching and fielding was the name of the game at Larry Carpenter Stadium as the host Lee University baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Auburn University at Montgomery on Saturday afternoon, winning 14-4 and 5-1.
With the wins, Lee claimed its eighth straight victory and improved to 6-3 in Gulf South Conference play and 14-3 overall. AUM dropped to 1-8, 4-13. The Flames will return to the road for non-conference action beginning on Tuesday at Lincoln Memorial University. They will then travel to Union University for a three-game GSC series on Friday and Saturday.
The Flames scored 35 runs on 37 hits over 21 innings in the sweep of AUM. They used seven pitchers over three games and the defense played errorless baseball both days.
Game 1 – Lee 14, AUM 4
In the seven-inning, run-rule game, the Flames had nine different players to score runs. Cody Turner was the leading producer in the romp. He had four hits, drove in three runs and scored once. Luke Collier connected for his third homer of the year. He tallied two hits, knocked in four runs and crossed home plate twice.
Aidan McClary tripled and singled. He posted a RBI and a run scored. Ryan Valdes joined in with two hits and two runs. Nate Dunfee had only one official time at bat but scored three runs on one hit and a RBI.
Isaiah French had an unusual game. He did not have a hit, but he had two RBI and one run tallied. Nate Caraballo ended the contest with a walk-off two-run homer as the Flames scored five runs in the seventh. It was Caraballo's fourth home run of the year, and he had a pair of RBI. Landon Franklin rounded out the 13-hit attack with a single and a run scored.
Gage Shaver (2-1) pitched 4.1 innings and was credited with the victory. He allowed seven hits, three earned runs and fanned six. Mason Bratcher continued his solid mound work. In 2.2 innings, the right-hander gave up just two hits and an earned run.
Cannon Miller, Luke Turner and Landon Baeder had two hits apiece for the Warhawks. Miller and Turner had RBI. Christopher McNeil doubled and had a RBI while John Kiebler smashed his first homer of the year and Bryce Ainsworth collected a double. Parker Wilson (0-1) was the starting and losing AUM pitcher. He hurled three innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs. Four other pitchers followed Wilson to the mound.
Game 2 – Lee 5, AUM 1
The Flames got solid pitching in the victory. Dylan Van Meeteren (2-0) had four solid innings and allowed just two hits. He struck out five and walked one in picking up the win. Alex Brew came on for one frame. The lefty gave up a hit, walked two and did not surrender a run. Bryce Hawkins closed the deal with two innings. He gave up a pair of hits and one earned run while striking out four.
Freshman Casen Youngblood was the only Lee player with two hits in the seven-inning affair. He had a two-base and one-base hit while scoring once. French ripped his sixth homer of the season. Turner smashed his third home run of the year. Braden Gabel had a hit and a run from his lead-off position. McClary and JJ Williams collected one-base knocks and tallied once. Collier and Valdes had RBIs without a hit. Keilin Sanders crossed home for Lee's other run.
Kurt Kizer was the only AUM player with two hits, collecting a single and a double. He also scored his teams' only run. Miller singled and collected the RBI while Ainsworth and Kyle Hipp had the other hits. Pitching was much better for the Warhawks. Hudson Wynne worked 3.1 innings. He gave up four earned runs. Kobe Wiggins came out of the pen for 2.2 frames and allowed two hits and one earned run.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"Any sweep is a good sweep in the GSC and I'm really proud of our team and the way they played this weekend. We haven't played the best defensively this year, but we really did a tremendous job with an error-free weekend. Our pitchers made big pitches when they had to and I thought we did a really good job of hitting with two strikes and two outs all weekend. We will get some rest tomorrow and then get our focus on a really good Lincoln Memorial team on Tuesday."
