CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Military Appreciation Day was celebrated on Saturday at Larry Carpenter Stadium as area veterans were honored. Lee President Phil Cook welcomed and praised a record turnout of former and active duty soldiers. Each branch of the military was saluted during a medley performed by the Voices of Lee and a free lunch was served by Zaxby's.
After the presentation, the Lee baseball team watched the second game of the three-game GSC series slip away in 11 innings 5-4. The determined Flames came battling back and defeated West Alabama in the nightcap 4-0 and claimed the series 2-1. The 5-4 defeat broke a 10-game winning streak by the Flames. They stand at 20-10 in conference play and 31-14 overall. The Tigers continue to lead the GSC with a 21-9, 32-11 record.
Lee will return to Larry Carpenter Stadium and play their final regular season home game of the year on Tuesday at 4 p.m. when they host Middle Georgia State University. The Flames will close out the GSC regular season with a three-game series against Trevecca Nazarene next Friday and Saturday.
Game 2 – Lee 4, West Alabama 0
Dylan Van Meeteren (6-1) pitched the complete seven-innings and led the Flames to victory. The right-hander allowed only four hits. He struck out five, walked three and hit one batter. West Alabama had two hits in the first inning and did not have another hit until they collected one in the sixth and another in the seventh.
At the same time, the Lee offense was banging out 10 hits. For the first time in several games, all 10 of the knocks were one-base hits. Casen Youngblood was a perfect 3-for-3 while Landon Franklin was the only other Lee player with two hits.
The Flames broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning when Isaiah French, Franklin and Youngblood had back-to-back one-base hits and JJ Williams gave Lee a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
The final three runs came in the fifth inning. Luke Collier had a base hit, French walked and Franklin followed with his second hit of the contest that scored Collier. French scored on an error and Youngblood blasted his third hit that knocked in Franklin with the third run.
Nick Wilson had two hits for West Alabama while Aaron Wallace and Tre Fulmer had the other hits. The Tigers used three pitchers. Colin Woodham (5-1) started and worked 4.1 innings, allowing five hits and one earned run. He was charged with the loss. Nolan Phillips retired two hitters before Ryan Ladner came on for the final frame.
Game 1 – West Alabama 5, Lee 4
In an 11-inning game that saw the lead go back and forth, the Tigers posted a single run in the top of the 11th when Fulmer doubled, and Dallas Bryant came on as a pinch runner. Hayes Alford delivered what turned out to be the game-winning base hit that scored Bryant to make it a 5-4 game. The Flames went down in order in the bottom of the 11th.
Lee trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, but a long home run by Nate Caraballo (his 8th) tied the game at four. Neither team was able to score in the 10th. The Tigers claimed the victory with the run in the 11th and evened the series at one game apiece.
Errors and walks proved costly to the Flames. They committed five errors and two pitchers walked 10 batters and hit two others. West Alabama scored one earned run in the victory and Lee out-hit the visitors 11-6, but the Tigers played errorless baseball.
Collier had a double, single, drove in a run and scored once in the loss. Aiden McClary followed with a pair of one-base hits. He also had an RBI and tallied a run. French, Franklin and Nate Dunfee chipped in with two hits each while Dunfee also scored a run.
Gage Shaver toed the rubber for the first 6.2 innings. The lefty allowed four hits and no earned runs. He fanned six but walked five. Cody Turner (2-4) was called on in relief for the next four innings. He gave up two hits, one earned run but like Shaver walked five batters and hit one. He was charged with the loss. Lefty Zach Tierney came on to retire the final out of the 11th inning.
Surprisingly, Rashad Robinson did not have a hit for West Alabama. However, he collected two RBI, one on an error by the Flames and the other on a walk with the bases loaded. Fulmer and Austin Thacker had two hits apiece while Layth Holiday walked twice, once that pushed a run across the plate. He also scored one of the five runs.
The Tigers used three pitchers. Blake Westry hurled the first five and allowed seven hits and three earned runs. Thomas Kirby came on for a pair of frames while Tyler Pierce (5-0) pitched the last three innings, giving up a run and collected the win.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"I'm really proud of our guys in the response and game two today. Dylan Van Meeteren took the team on his back through a shutout against a really good West Alabama team after we had a really tough loss in game one. Our offense wasn't as good this weekend as it has been, but West Alabama has really good arms, and they had a lot to do with that. I thought our military appreciation day event was awesome. I'm very thankful for everyone that participated and the crowd that was here to say thanks to these special men and women that have served our country. We've got four big games still remaining on the regular season schedule and we need to keep finding a way to get good pitching, good defense, and continue to have our offense show up in a big way."
