PENSACOLA, Fla. – With one big swing of the bat and solid pitching, the University of West Florida defeated Lee University 6-4 and forced a game to decide which team will travel to face University of Tampa for the Super Regional Championship. The Argonauts (42-14) defeated Delta State earlier on Saturday and then turned around and handed the Flames (38-18) the defeat at Jim Spooner Field.
The Argos broke open a scoreless tie with four runs in the third inning. Trent Kelly singled, Tyler Brobst walked, and Gustavo Mendez reached on a costly error to load the bases. Greg Pettay, one of the smaller players on the field, stepped up and drilled a grand-slam homer over the left-field wall.
The Flames cut the margin to 4-1 in the fourth inning on a solo homerun by Isaiah French. The score stayed that way until the sixth inning when Zack Stokes doubled, went to third on a bunt single by Kelly and scored on a passed ball. The Argos added an insurance run in the seventh and led 6-1.
The Flames mounted a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh and cut the lead to 6-3. Nate Dunfee reached on an error, stole second and put a run on the board when Keilin Sanders singled. French picked up his second RBI of the contest with a triple into right-centerfield that scored Sanders.
The lead was trimmed to 6-4 in the eighth when Nate Caraballo had a two-base hit, when to third on a fly ball to center by JJ Williams and scored on a sacrifice fly by Dunfee.
With one out in the ninth, Luke Collier picked up his first hit of the night, but the Argos recorded the second out on a strikeout. Cody Turner who represented the tying run was walked but a strikeout followed to end the game.
Lee only had six hits in the game, but West Florida was guilty of four errors, hit two batters and walked two. The Flames left 10 runners on base, but their pitchers struck out 13 Argo hitters.
Dylan Van Meeteren (6-4) was the losing pitcher. In four innings, he allowed five hits, three earned runs, walked two and struck out six. Alex Brew worked the next 4.2 frames, surrendering five hits and two earned runs. He struck
out six and walked three. Mason Bratcher retired the final out for the Flames.
Elijah Roberts (2-5) kept the Flames off balance for five innings and got credit for the win. He gave up only one earned run, struck out four and did not walk a hitter. Blake Thomas followed for 1.2 innings and allowed two runs, but none were earned. He fanned four and walked none. Micky Scheetz recorded his 15th save of the year. He was called on for 2.1 innings and allowed a run, walked two and struck out two.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"West Florida made some big pitches and kept our offense down today. The early grand slam proved too much to overcome, but I'm proud of how we fought back into the game. We did manage to punch out 13 guys, but they got some big two-strike hits. We will be ready to go tomorrow and are excited about the opportunity."
