Dalton Ney delivered a double and scored on what turned out to be a game-winning hit by Fernando Ortiz in the bottom of the eighth inning as Lee began their sweep of a Friday afternoon doubleheader with a 3-2 victory over the visitors from Auburn University at Montgomery. The Flames breezed to a much easier 9-3 win in the nightcap.
The WarHawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Flames in the opener. Donovan Chandler was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Nathan Langley. Langley tallied the second run when Jonathan Brandt singled.
Lee starter Wes Albert did not allow a run the rest of the 6.2 innings he hurled.
The senior right-hander allowed one earned run, struck out three and walked two. Logan Workman came on to seal the deal in the final 2.1 innings. The freshman gave up just two hits and struck out three. He also recorded his third pitching win of the year.
“Wes gave us a strong performance and Workman continues to give us quality innings on the back end. Ortiz really had a nice game at plate with two clutch hits,” commented head coach Mark Brew.
The Flames waited until the bottom of the fifth inning to get their bats going. Justen Freeman began the rally with a single and scored on a RBI double by Ortiz. Tyler Payne tied the contest at two with a one-base hit that pushed Ortiz across the dish.
Payne and Ortiz were the only Flames with two hits in the contest, while Jordan Howard joined Ney and Freeman with a hit apiece.
Garrett Deloney pitched well enough to win for AUM but suffered his second loss of the year. The lefty scattered seven hits, allowed three earned runs and struck out six.
GAME TWO – Lee 9, AUM 3
The Flames fell behind again 2-0 in the nightcap but rebounded by sending nine hitters to the dish in the third and fourth innings to quickly put the battle away. Four runs scored in the third when Ortiz singled, Payne walked, Chase Gadau reached on an error and Peyton Meeker picked up a RBI with a single. Spencer Mossburg followed with a two-base knock that plated Gadau and Meeker.
In the fourth inning four more runs pushed the lead to 8-2. It began with a walk to Ney, Payne singled, Howard drove in two runs with a double and Meeker collected two more RBI with his two-base hit. Payne, Howard, Gadau and Ney tallied the runs.
The final score was registered in the sixth when Meeker tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Pat Morrow shook off a slow start and recorded his third pitching win of the year. In six innings he allowed six hits and three earned runs. He struck out six and walked three. Jay Pryor came on to work the final inning and allowed just one hit while striking out one WarHawks.
“Morrow struggled early, but settled down and put together a good middle of the game. Meeker and Howard had some big knocks for us and I thought our defense was excellent,” added Brew.
Hank Scott was the starter and loser for AUM. He surrendered eight hits and eight earned runs in 3.1 innings. Danny Caldwell (2.0) and William Gibson (0.2) also toed the rubber in the loss. Langley had two hits and tallied two of AUM’s three runs. Brandt also countered with two hits and drove in two of the WarHawks three runs.
“It’s the second week in a row we have won the series on day one. Last week I thought we didn’t have as much energy as we needed on the final day. It’s a great opportunity for us, but AUM isn’t going to give it to us. We need to come out and compete at a high level with great energy tomorrow,” concluded the head coach. Saturday's contest has been moved up to 11 a.m. to try and avoid rain predicted for the Cleveland area.