CLEVELAND, Tenn. - JJ Williams scored after Isaiah French walked in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Lee baseball team a 5-4 walk-off win over Tiffin University (Ohio) on Sunday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium (Olympic Field). It was the 12th walk of the contest by the visiting Dragons whose pitching allowed the Flames only four hits over the nine innings.
Solid pitching and defense helped carry the Flames to their sixth straight victory of the year. The tough loss dropped Tiffin to 0-3. Lee will open Gulf South Conference play with a single game on Friday (3 p.m.) hosting Delta State University and come back on Saturday with a doubleheader (1 p.m.).
Lee used four pitchers in the victory. Dylan Van Meeteren gave the Flames five solid innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, striking out seven and walking one. Tyler Pickens followed for 1.2 frames and gave up three hits, two earned runs, a pair of walks and two strikeouts. Alex Brew toed the rubber for 1.2 innings. The lefty did not allow a hit, no runs and walked one. Cody Turner came on and picked up the win. In one inning, he was perfect and fanned one batter.
The Dragons used five pitchers with Trent Hedges getting the start for three innings. He allowed three hits, an earned run, struck out eight and walked two. Brett Madison was charged with the loss. He hurled the final 1.1 frames and issued five free passes and allowed three earned runs.
The Flames went on top 1-0 in the first inning when Landon Franklin tripled and scored with two outs on a double by Williams. Tiffin went on top for the first time in the three-game series 2-1 in the fourth inning with four straight hits. Dylan Ruhe singled, Griff Cady followed with a run-scoring double and Brayden Clark had a one base knock to send Cady across the plate with the lead.
Lee went back on top 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning when they sent eight men to the plate without a single hit. Four batters walked in the inning, another batter was hit and the Dragons were guilty of three errors in the frame. Collier and Nathan Dunfee tallied the run after picking up free passes. Dunfee advanced on a wild pitch and scored on an error while Collier crossed the plate after Cody Turner was hit by a pitch.
Tiffin came back and tied the game at three in the sixth. Adam Deitschel was issued a free pass, Ruhe doubled, and Cady picked up his second RBI of the game with a one-base hit. The Dragons went on top 4-3 in the seventh on a solo home run by Julian Hernandez.
Lee also tied the game at four in the bottom of the eighth inning when Tiffin pitching issued a free pass to Ryan Valdes. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, took third on an error by the second baseman and scored on a RBI sac fly by Luke Collier.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"We didn't hit great today but hats off to Tiffin as they kept us in check all day. We found a way in the end and that matters. Van Meeteren did a great job with five strong innings, and Pickens, Brew and Turner were able to get some big outs until we got the two runs late. We need a great week of practice to prep for Delta State. They always have a highly competitive team and I'm excited to see our guys against them."
