FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. - The Lee baseball team opened 2012 Southern States Athletic Conference play on Friday with a 12-1, 2-1 doubleheader sweep of host Emmanuel College.
It was a story of two entirely different played games. In the opener Kris Hall picked up his third straight pitching win and Corey Davis banged out four hits and drove in five runs. The slugger's day included two doubles, one with the bases loaded.
Hall was in total control.
He fanned 11 and walked three in the seven-inning affair. The big right-hander scattered five hits in going the distance. Emmanuel's only run came in the bottom of the third. Alex Delgado doubled, singled and collected the RBI for the losers.
The Flames finished with 15 hits and Josh Wright was charged with the pitching defeat. Mike Moore also stood out in the first game. He had two hits and drove in three runs. Brady Renner, Roberto Reyes and Edmanuel Rivera collected two knocks apiece. Rivera and Renner had doubles as did Trevor Burgess. Renner, Blake Barber and Reyes posted RBIs.
"Kris (Hall) was really dominate and did an excellent job of keeping his pitch count down so we could get the complete game," said coach Mark Brew. "Our first game was our best offensive performance to date. Corey (Davis) had a huge game."
In the second game, the Flames tallied a single run in the third inning and came up with what turned out to be the winning run on a solo homer by Reyes in the fourth inning. The Brew crew had to hold off a ninth-inning rally to produce the exciting win.
In the ninth, Emmanuel had the tying run at second with only one out. The Lions hit a solid line drive to shortstop Rivera who grabbed the liner and raced to second and doubled-up the Emmanuel runner who was headed to third.
Lee's only other run of the contest came as the Flames played "small ball". Roberto Duran singled and stole second. A sacrifice bunt pushed the runner to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Renner. Burgess and Barber had a pair of hits each in the win.
Lefty Patrick Merkling was the starting and winning pitcher. He worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed only three hits. However, he did walk six and struck out nine. Matt Passauer pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits. He struck out three. Andy Hillis came on to hurl the ninth and picked up the save.
"Patrick (Merkling) did an excellent job of pitching out of jams," noted Brew. "That was probably the key to the game. However, his lack of command and high pitch count forced him out of the game early. Passauer and Hillis were excellent out of the bullpen. Emmanuel pitched us well but Reyes had the big swing that turned the contest in our favor.
"Overall, it was a good team effort," added Brew. "We were able to pull away from them in game one but they really pitched us tough in the nightcap. Emmanuel has one of the most improved programs in the conference and we will have to play well to sweep them tomorrow."