Kris Hall worked six innings of two-hit ball and Roberto Duran and Blake Barber drilled long two-run homers as the Lee baseball Flames advanced to the finals of the SSAC Tournament with a convincing 9-4 win over Shorter University.
It was the 49th win of the season for the Flames and they will wait for three others teams to battle it out for the right to face the tournament's only unbeaten team on Monday at 7 p.m.
Jorge Saez, and Blake Barber paced the Lee hitting attack with two knocks apiece. Barber had four RBI and Saez joined Brady Renner and Edmanuel Rivera with two runs scored. Corey Davis and Roberto Reyes were credited with runs batted in. Trevor Burgess and Reyes had Lee's other hits.
Hall improved to 10-0 and Joe Fabre joined Andy Hillis to finish the day for the Lee pitching staff. Hall left after six inning and threw only 92 pitches. Blake McCullers blasted a two-run dinger for Shorter in the eighth.
"It was good to get out to the early lead," said coach Mark Brew. "We can wait and see what happens and then see who will pitch on Monday. We are excited about the opportunity to win our first outright SSAC tournament title." The Flames shared the crown with Brewton Parker two years ago after the rain caused the final to be cancelled.
Brew went on to praise the defensive work of Duran, Barber and Burgess. "This team has been a joy to work with all year. They know how important the championship is to our program."