Thanks to outstanding pitching the Lee baseball team opened up the 2018 season with a doubleheader sweep over Tuskegee University on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Olympic Field.
The two teams will wrap up the weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
GAME 2 LEE 5 TU 0
Pat Morrow (1-0) tossed six shutout innings and struck out 10 batters to help the Flames complete the doubleheader sweep of the Golden Tigers.
The junior-transfer from Hill College (Texas) allowed just three hits as he kept Tuskegee off-balance at the plate all afternoon long with a upper 80's fastball while getting several hitters to swing through a devastating slider.
Spencer Mossburg provided the offense punch as he delivered a two-run double in the first inning and a RBI sacrifice bunt in the fifth.
Tyler Payne singled down the left field line in the third inning to drive home Justen Freeman with the third run of the game while Peyton Meeker added some insurance with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
Freshman Logan Campbell came on to work the final inning in relief for Lee and kept the shutout intact as he induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Christian Marshall was the losing pitcher for the Golden Tigers as he threw four innings allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits.
Marshall walked three and finished with three strikeouts.
Offensively the Lee pitching staff limited the Georgia club to just three singles from Lance Hamilton, Jalen Luter and Tyari Albright.
GAME 1 LEE 6 TU 1
Eric Freeman and Wes Albert combined to allow just one run on four hits to lead the Lee baseball team to a 6-1 victory over Tuskegee in game one of Saturday's Opening Day doubleheader.
Freeman, a senior transfer from the University of Tennessee, made the most of his Flames' debut as he scattered three hits while striking out eight in five innings of work to earn the victory. The hard-throwing righty walked two and allowed just one run.
Albert came on in relief and shutdown the Golden Tigers over four innings and was credited with the save. The senior allowed just one hit and fanned eight.
The Lee offense got going in the second inning as Justen Freeman, a freshman third baseman and brother of starter Eric Freeman, singled to right field to score Chase Gadau. Dalton Ney followed with an infield RBI single to make it 2-0.
The Flames tacked on three more runs in the third frame as Meeker roped a two-run double to left field and score on a Brayden Ware one-base knock to left center.
The final run of the game came on a steal of home by freshman Thomas Zazzaro after coming on to pinch running for Miguel Pimentel. Pimentel doubled earlier in the inning but was lifted as he came up lame on a dive back to third. The double steal was put in motion by head coach Mark Brew and executed to perfection by Gadau and Zazzaro.
Trey Nelson was tagged with the loss for Tuskegee. Nelson tossed 115 pitches over six innings allowing six runs, five earned on six hits. He walked five and finished with four punch outs. Lajerrius Haralson worked two scoreless innings in relief and yielded just one walk.