CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Lee University baseball team used a pair of first-inning homeruns and solid pitching in defeating visiting Lincoln Memorial University 5-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium on Olympic Field. The victory improved the Lee record to 3-0 and LMU stands at 1-2 on the year.
The Flames are scheduled to return to action on Saturday and Sunday. They will host Tiffin University (Ohio) in a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. and then play a single game on Sunday (1 p.m.).
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Lee went right to work. Landon Franklin reached on an infield hit and Cody Turner followed with a long homer over the right-centerfield wall. It was his first four-bagger of the year. JJ Williams reached on an error and Isaiah French made it a 4-0 contest with his blast over the left-centerfield fence. It was his second homerun.
The lead grew to 5-0 in the fourth inning. Aidan McClary walked, stole second and scored on a fielder's choice by Keilin Sanders. The Flames threatened in the sixth inning but did not score again.
The Railsplitters tallied their runs in the fifth inning. Ronny Matti singled and Kevin Fernandez walked. Brooks Hagedorn had a one-base hit to load the bases and a double by Caleb Jordan pushed two runs across the plate to make it a 5-2 game. Lee pitching turned back LMU scoring opportunities in the sixth and ninth innings to preserve the victory.
Franklin, French and Youngblood had two hits as the Flames finished with eight hits for the day. Franklin, Turner, Williams, French and McClary tallied the Lee runs while Turner and French finished with a pair of RBI and Sanders had one hit and Lee's other RBI.
Six Lee pitchers worked. Turner played a double role and hurled two innings and allowed three hits and no runs. Dylan Van Meeteren and Coates Massey each pitched an inning. Landon Nease ran into trouble during his one-third of an inning. He gave up three hits and two earned runs.
Cason Ehgert worked the next 2.2 frames and surrendered three hits and no earned runs in picking up the victory. Bryce Hawkins pitched the final two innings of no-hit ball and recorded the save.
The Railsplitters outhit the Flames 9-8. Jordan and Gabe Gray had two knocks apiece. Jordan doubled and drove in LMU's two runs. The visitors used two pitchers. Adrian Smith hurled the first four innings and took the loss. He allowed six hits, five runs, walked two and struck out two. Lucas Smith followed for four innings and gave up only two hits. He surrendered four free passes and fanned one.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"We got another well-pitched game against a quality opponent in LMU. Lots of guys carried big outs, and I was pleased with how they performed on the mound. The big inning was the difference for us offensively with Turner and French's home runs in the 1st. I was also pleased with how our defense played with the errorless day."
