CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Cody Turner had five hits, including a homerun and drove in four runs. He also went to the mound for 1.1 innings and was credited with the win as the Lee baseball team defeated Christian Brothers University 12-10 on Friday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium.
Evan Bloomer turned in his top pitching performance of the season for the Flames. The right-hander worked 7.1 innings and gave up eight hits and three earned runs. He recorded Lee's top strikeout mark for the year with 12 K's and walked only one batter.
Lee called on three other hurlers besides Bloomer and Turner. The lefty Turner entered the contest in relief in the eighth inning and retired the Bucs. When the visitors rallied to cut the lead to 12-10 in the top ninth, Coach Mark Brew called on Turner again (who was playing first base at the time). He promptly retired the final two outs to end the rally by the Christian Brothers team.
It was a low-scoring game until the eighth inning. The contest was tied 1-1 at the end of the second inning. Lee went on top 3-1 in the third, but the Bucs came back to cut the margin to 3-2 in the fourth. The Flames put one more marker on the board in the fifth to make it a 4-2 game and CBU would not go away, tying the game at 5-5 in the top of the eighth inning.
It appeared the Flames had things in complete control when they put seven big runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth, but the home team had problems from the bullpen and the Bucs put five runs on the board in the top of the ninth before Lee could settle the issue.
While Turner was leading the way at the plate, the Flames had a total of 17 hits. Landon Franklin, Luke Collier and Aiden McClary had two knocks apiece. Franklin and McClary each finished with an RBI and scored a run.
Collier scored once. Casen Youngblood and Nate Caraballo doubled and knocked in two runs. Ryan Valdes had a hit and a RBI. Nathan Dunfee singled and scored while Braden Gabel had Lee's other hit.
The middle of the lineup did the major damage for CBU. Jackson Licata collected four hits and drove in five of his team's 10 runs. Isaac Lemanski followed with three hits, a pair of runs scored and a RBI while Zowen Collins blasted a homer, collected two RBI and crossed home plate twice. Will Gossett joined the middle of the lineup with a hit and three runs scored.
The Bucs used five pitchers. William Norris started and hurled the first three innings. Kayne Braxton came on for 1.1 innings and was charged with the loss.
Games two and three of the three-game GSC series will be played on Saturday. The first pitch of the opening nine-inning game is scheduled for 1 p.m. The second contest is slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"The game had a little bit of everything in it, but securing the win was the most important thing. Bloomer had a tremendous start, and Cody Turner was excellent out of the pen and at the plate. Caraballo had a big double in our big eighth inning. My hats off to CBU. They battled all day and kept coming at the end. We will need to execute on the mound a little better tomorrow."
