Hailey Simco was 4-for-4 from the plate with two home runs and Laney Harris hit a three-run home run to help lead the Lee University softball team to an upset win over the #1 team in the country on Wednesday. Lee split a doubleheader with the university of North Georgia at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga. The Lady Flames won game one 9-3 and then lost 11-2 in game two. Lee improved their record to 13-15 on the season with the split.
GAME 1
The Lady Flames came flying out of the gate in the bottom of the first.
Simco had a solo home run. That was followed by a three-run home run from Laney Harris. Her sixth home run of the season scored Rylie Goodridge and Javaria Smith and Lee led 4-0 after the first.
The lead extended to six runs in the second when Simco hit a two-run blast over the right field fence to score Kyra Vieux. UNG responded with their first run in the third inning. Lee made it 8-1 in the third when Vieux reached on a fielder’s choice. Harris came in to score and she was followed home by Alyson Jarvi on an error from the Nighthawks.
UNG had a run in the fourth as did Lee with a Goodridge RBI to score Simco. The last run of the game came from a solo home run from UNG.
Alaina Watson threw a complete game in the win going seven innings and only giving up three runs on six hits. Simco added three runs and three RBI. Harris also scored twice and had three RBI.
GAME 2
UNG got runners in scoring position in both the first and the second inning but starting pitcher Olivia Tyson the Lady Flames got out of the jam each time. UNG finally broke through in the third inning scoring three runs on three hits with a couple of sacrifice flies and an error.
Lee answered right back in the bottom of the third with their only two runs of the game. Vieux hit a double to the left field fence and scored Alexa Scalzo and Marquila Howell to make it a 3-2 game.
UNG added three runs in the fourth and five in the fifth to win the game 11-2.
Lee only managed four hits in game two with four different Lady Flames collecting the hits.
The Lady Flames will back in action on Friday, March 29 in Huntsville, Ala. They will take on the University of Alabama in Huntsville at 5 PM.
TUSCULUM BASEBALL 6 LEE 4 Host Tusculum University took advantage of 10 walks by Lee University pitching and produced timely hitting in posting a 6-4 victory over the 15th-ranked Flames at Pioneer Park on Wednesday evening. The non-conference loss dropped Lee to 22-9 and Tusculum improved to 18-13.
The Flames will move back into GSC action on Friday and Saturday, traveling to Huntsville and facing the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Friday’s nine-inning contest is slated for a 6 p.m. EDT first pitch and the doubleheader will get underway on Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT.
Lee moved on top 2-0 in the first inning but the Pioneers rallied back to tie the game at two in the bottom of the inning. Tusculum tallied two more runs in the bottom of the second, making it a 4-2 game and never trailed again.
The Flames cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth when Cam Suto’s RBI single scored Ashton Simmons. The Pioneers came right back and tallied a single run in the bottom of the same inning to go up 5-3.
The margin reached 6-3 in the seventh before Lee made one final comeback attempt in the eighth. Brandon Daniels ripped a double off the right-centerfield wall and scored on a solid single by Matthew Batts.
Lee collected seven hits off five Pioneer pitchers. Batts was the only Flame with two hits and he also collected two RBI. Brock Sisson had a hit and RBI while Josiah Miller and Simmons had Lee’s other hits. Dylan Standifer, who scored one of Lee’s runs in the first inning after drawing a walk, was also robbed when he ripped a blistering line-drive that was pulled down by the leaping Tusculum shortstop Ben Scartz in the eighth inning.
Zach Wilson played a key role in the Pioneer victory. He had two doubles, a single, scored two runs and knocked in one. Murphy Flood collected two RBI while Luis Reyes added two hits and scored twice. Two big Pioneer runs came on walks with the bases loaded.
Tusculum used five pitchers in picking up the win. Luke Maicon (1-0) pitched the first four innings and allowed four hits and one earned run. He did not walk a batter. Jonathan Nelson followed for the next two frames. He surrendered two hits and an earned run, walking one and striking out four. Seth Willis picked up his fourth save of the year. He came on in the ninth inning and struck out two of the three hitters he faced.
The Flames used six pitchers in the loss. Freshman Zachary Lawson (0-2) got the start. In 1.1 innings he allowed five hits, two earned runs and walked three batters. Colt McKibben turned in a solid 2.1 innings. He gave up a pair of hits, no runs but walked three and fanned two. Tim Gooden, Cole Matthaidess, David White and Hunter Lane completed the mound work for Lee.