Thanks to a no-hitter from Leigh Beatenbough and a five RBI day from Annabeth Pruett the Lee softball team rolled past Tennessee Wesleyan 12-0 and 14-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Butler Field.
Beatenbough worked all five innings and allowed just one base runner to reach while striking out six to move to 2-1 on the year.
While the junior dazzled in the circle the Lee offensive pounded out 10 hits and scored 12 runs in four innings. Pruett had the big knock in the first innings as she launched a towering grand slam to left field to cap off a seven-run first inning.
In the fourth inning freshman Brooklyn Frazier hit her second long ball of the season as she drilled a two-run homer to straightaway center.
Frazier finished with three RBI in the game.
Every Lee starter scored at least one run and eight of the nine starters recorded hits in the offensive explosion. Zoe Miller and Beatenbough had two hits each and Courtney Crawford registered a stand up triple to left and scored a run.
The Bulldogs, playing in their first game of the season, showed some rust throughout the day. Rachel Mathews (0-1) started and pitched all four innings. She allowed 10 hits and gave up 12 runs, seven earned.
"Our kids just love to go out and play and you saw that today, the game is enough motivation for our team," said head coach Emily Russell. "Leigh pitched really well and of course the offensive helped settle her down and allowed her to just go out pitch. We are learning every day with our young team and seeing improvement. Even after the loss to Columbus State on Sunday we saw some things we could build on moving forward."
GAME 2 – LEE 14 TWU 1
The Lady Flames kept the bats on fire in the nightcap as they recorded 11 hits and scored 14 runs to complete the run-rule sweep of the Bulldogs.
Abby McKinney (3-1) started and went four innings allowing four hits and one run while striking out a pair. The freshman also made her presence felt on offensive as she had three hits and three RBI.
Frazier added two more RBI for Lee as she doubled and single in the contest. The freshman from Chattanooga leads the team with 11 RBI on the year. Stevie Baird added a two-run single and scored twice while Crawford singled, scored twice and drove in two runs.
Madyson Stallcup tossed the fifth inning in relief to finish off Tennessee Wesleyan. She worked around a walk and two singles in keeping the Bulldogs off the board.
Hanna Manley started and was effective in her two innings of work for the visitors. Manley allowed two hits, walked one and struck out one. Courtney Jones labored in relief allowing six runs in the third frame on four hits and five walks. Morgan Boggess close out the final 1 1/3 innings in the circle for Tennessee Wesleyan and allowed eight runs but thanks to a couple of errors none of those runs were earned.
The Lady Flames will now head down to Montevallo, Ala. for the Falcon Frenzy. Lee will play Tuskegee and Mobile on Saturday and Ursuline and the University of Indianapolis on Sunday.
"We will continue to work on some things this weekend at the Falcon Frenzy and hopefully we will be ready for conference play the following weekend with a UAH," concluded Russell.