posted May 15, 2008
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Lee Flames are just one win away from not only the Atlantic South Super Region title, but also possibly the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NAIA World Series. The Flames defeated host Embry-Riddle 9-5 on Wednesday evening and stand just one win away from the title.
The 58-8 Flames jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind three-perfect innings by starting pitcher Dallas Sims. However, the Eagles would not go down without a fight and tied the game at five in the bottom of the sixth inning. Lee bounced right back with three runs in the seventh and an insurance run in the eighth to claim the first-game win in the best two-of-three game series.
Sims bid for a perfect outing ended in the fourth inning when Matt Steele led off the inning with a single. In 5 2/3 innings, the senior right-hander surrendered seven hits and four earned runs. He fanned two and walked one.
For the second straight game, lefty Jeff Ibara came to Lee's rescue in the sixth inning and picked up the pitching victory. He is now 9-2 on the year. In 2 1/3 innings, Ibara allowed only two hits. He struck out four and did not walk an Embry-Riddle hitter. Pablo Lopez came on to pitch the perfect ninth inning.
While Lee's pitchers were holding the Eagles in-check for most of the evening, the Flames bats were red-hot. Chris Dubon, Jeremy Hutslar and Ryan Stovall led the charge with three hits each. Hutslar doubled and Stovall tripled for Lee's only extra-base hits. All totaled, Lee banged out 10 straight singles before the Stovall three-base stroke to deep left-center.
"We showed more patience at the plate than we have all year," said coach Mark Brew. "We knocked out one of the best pitchers in the NAIA in Embry-Riddle's Jordan Roberts." The lefty lasted five innings, but allowed nine hits and four earned runs.
A key point in the victory came in the top of the seventh as Lee battled back to answer a four-run rally in the sixth by the Eagles. Kevin Wyman and Ross Collins scored on Stovall's triple. Stovall later crossed the dish on a sacrifice fly by Edgar Mercado to put the Flames up by three.
"That was huge," said Brew. "With runners on first and second, I really thought about having Stovall sacrifice and move the runners over. I'm glad I made the call. Ryan has had some big hits for us all season but that was one of the biggest."
Dubon set the pace for Lee in the early going with a pair of RBI singles, but Stovall took top RBI honors with four. He also scored once.
For the losers, senior Kyle Albright became his club's record holder for home runs (12) with a long two-run blast over the left-center field fence. Colin Gray had two hits and Aaron Tea doubled.
After the win, Brew reminded his team that the last time Lee faced Embry-Riddle in the Super Region, the Flames jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the series only to see the Eagles come back to win the next two. Thursday's second game in the series is scheduled for 7 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Friday at 1 p.m.
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