Engle Stadium has seen a lot of historical moments in it's 80 years of existence. On Thursday evening, it saw a piece of Lee University Baseball History.
Seth Walker tied a program record with five hits in five at bats, as the Flames (20-6) defeated the Tennessee Temple University Crusaders (5-16) 14-1.
Walker led off the game with a grounder to second that took a bad hop and scooted into right field. Two batters later Jose Cuevas walked, and Junior Rodriguez followed the free pass with his fifth home run of the season, to give the Flames the 3-0 lead.
Lee tacked on four more runs in the second inning, as Walker and JJ Costantino each had RBI singles, and Tanner Moore blasted his ninth homer of the campaign. Six of the first seven Flames to bat in the third inning scored, with Costantino and Moore each recording extra-base hits, as Lee knocked Crusaders' starter Robby McIntyre from the game after touching him up for 12 hits and 13 earned runs.
Meanwhile on the mound for the Flames, Jaime Harper was on cruise control. Through his first four innings, Harper needed just 41 pitches and had allowed only three hits. The Crusaders plated a run in Harper's last inning of work, but Harper (1-0) would still earn his first victory of the season. He lasted a total of five innings, allowing an earned run on four hits, walking one and striking out four. Josh Albers saw his first action of the 2010 season in relief for the Flames, tossing two scoreless innings.
Walker's 5-for-5 day included a double, four runs scored and a pair of RBI. Since moving into the lead-off slot for coach Mark Brew's Flames, Walker is a red hot 13-for-18 (.722)with 10 runs scored.
Tanner Moore tripled and homered in four trips, scoring twice and driving in three; Trey Burstrom singled and scored twice in the game; Costantino notched a pair of safeties and two RBI, and Max Harvell singled in both of his plate appearances.
Jon Clayton, Drew Hammonds, Luke Grow, and Blake Wachtveiti recorded singles for the Crusaders, while Lee Wilburn had the only extra-base knock for Tennessee Temple, a double in the fifth inning.
The Flames open a Southern States Athletic Conference weekend series on Friday evening at Olympic Field when Faulkner University (18-8, 6-3) comes to Cleveland. Friday will feature a single, nine-inning contest at 6 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader will commence at Noon.