CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Lee's hitting and pitching dominated in a doubleheader sweep of Christian Brothers University, 17-3, 14-3, on Saturday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium. The baseball win completed three victories over the Buccaneers and improved the Flames to 10-7 in GSC play and 18-10 overall. CBU fell to 2-15, 6-21.
Lee will hit the road for eight straight games and face Tusculum University in a non-conference game on Tuesday. They return to GSC action in a three-game series against the University of Montevallo on Friday and Saturday. The Flames also have conference action against the University of West Florida before returning home for a non-conference date with Tusculum on April 7.
Game 1 – Lee 17, Christian Brothers 3
The Flames moved out to a 12-0 lead after four innings and never looked back in the seven-inning run-rule victory. Lee pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of four Buc errors in coasting to the win. They also got six innings of dominating pitching from Gage Shaver.
Cody Turner and JJ Williams homered and knocked in four runs apiece in leading the Lee hitters. Turner finished with three hits and scored twice. Williams also doubled and tallied two runs. Aiden McClary wasn't far behind. He ripped a two-base hit, collected three hits, an RBI, and scored two runs. Luke Collier cleared the bases with a triple that drove in three runs. He finished with four runs batted in for the game and crossed home plate twice.
Nate Caraballo made his presence felt with two hits, including a two-bagger. He posted an RBI and joined a group by scoring two runs. Keilin Sanders and Nathan Dunfee did their part in the bottom of the batting order, both scored three runs apiece.
Shaver ran his pitching record to 3-2 with his three-hit performance. He gave up three earned runs, struck out nine and walked three over six innings. Hayden Choate came on for the final inning and pitched a perfect frame.
CBU used four pitchers. Kade Johnson started and pitched two innings. He was charged with the loss, giving up five hits, five earned runs, walking four and striking out two.
Patrick Mangels drove in two runs for the Bucs with a single. Jackson Licata doubled and scored a run while Isaac Lemanski had a hit and tallied a run. Zowen Collins crossed the plate with the final Christian Brothers run.
Game 2 – Lee 14, Christian Brothers 3
Dylan Van Meeteren (3-1) turned in his top performance of the year by working six innings of two-hit ball. He did not allow an earned run while striking out six and issuing only one free pass. Mason Bratcher came on in the seventh inning and did not surrender a hit. He fanned one and did not issue a free pass. CBU used four pitchers. Cameron Olivo was the starting and losing hurler.
Luke Collier, Nate Caraballo and Ryan Valdes doubled and drove in two runs apiece in leading the Flames to the seven-inning victory. Collier's two-base hit plated a pair of runs. Caraballo also did damage with his only hit while Valdes added a single to go with his two-bagger and added a score.
Landon Franklin and JJ Williams were the other Lee players to have two hits in the win. Williams collected an RBI and scored a run. Aiden McClary put a pair of runs on the board and knocked in a run with a hit. Isaiah French singled and added two scores while Braden Gabel had a hit, RBI and tallied a run.
The Bucs were limited to only three hits for the second straight game. Brayden Basey homered and drove in two runs in the loss. Mikey Rodriquez collected a hit while Isaac Lemanski had a hit and scored a run. Zowen Collins crossed home with the final Christian Brothers tally.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"It was a big offensive weekend for our team and I was really proud of how relentless we were at the plate. Our starting pitching was excellent today, and that's always going to give us a chance to win. We've got eight big road games now and we need to build off this momentum heading to Tusculum next Tuesday."
