The Lee baseball team used four pitchers and pounded out 13 hits to secure an 8-7 victory over Mars Hill University on a cold and damp Sunday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium. The win improved the Lee record to 3-4. The Flames will return to action on Tuesday afternoon and will host Young Harris College in a single nine-inning game scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.
“My hats off to Mars Hill. They got some big hits and kept coming back, even in the end,” said Coach Mark Brew after his Flames won the three-game series, 3-2.
“I’m also proud of our how our team found a way to win the series in some tough conditions today. There’s a lot of growth for our team through this weekend and we need to continue seeking improvement.”
Like all three games in the series with the Lions, the battle was not decided until the top of the ninth inning when the visitors pushed across a run to make it an 8-7 game. A walk followed to load the bases. With two outs a high fly ball was lifted to left field. Dylan Standifer slipped on the wet turf and went to his knees but recovered quick enough to grab the fly ball and preserve the hard-fought Lee win.
The Flames outhit the Lions 13-12 and played errorless ball in the field. “Our defense was solid all day and we definitely competed inside the strike zone more this weekend. Offensively, we’ve got some big innings but have still left some opportunities out there. I’m excited to see how we look against a very good Young Harris team as we continue to get ready for our GSC opener next weekend,” pointed out the Lee coach.
Mars Hill jumped on top in the first inning by a 2-0 margin when Zach Weaver drove home two runs with a double. The margin reached 3-0 in the fourth inning on a walk to Weaver and an RBI double by Tyler Sellers.
Lee came fighting back and took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when it sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs and took a 5-3 lead. Brandon Daniels started the inning with a long homerun to right. Standifer and Josiah Miller followed with singles and Cam Suto picked up an RBI hit that scored Standifer. Before the inning ended, Suto and Isaac Quinones had scored. Luke Hughes drove in a run with a sac fly. Gavin Baxter’s first hit resulted in an RBI and Ashton Simmons doubled home a run.
Mars Hill was not about to go away and rallied right back to cut the margin to 5-4 in the top of the fifth on a homerun by Jordan Lathe. The Flames tallied a single run in the fifth and were on top 6-4 when Daniels reached on a bunt single and later scored on a wild pitch. Again, the Lions responded and tied the game at 6-6 on a two-run long homer by Trevor Bailey.
In the seventh, Miller walked and Suto was hit by a pitch. Quinones and Hughes delivered key RBI singles to put the Flames on top to stay at 8-6 and setting up the suspenseful ninth inning. Daniels finished the day with three hits and Miller and Simmons each had a pair.
Cameron Land started and worked three innings on the mound for the Flames. He allowed four hits, three earned runs and struck out two. Greyson Linderman came on for 3.2 innings. He surrendered five hits and three earned runs while fanning six. Colt McKibben was called on for 1.2 innings. He gave up three hits and an earned run. David White got the final out of the afternoon and got the save while Linderman was credited with the pitching win.
Mars Hill used four hurlers. Barrett Williams was the third to go to the mound and was charged with the pitching loss. Dawson Connell had three hits, including a triple and drove in two runs for the Lions.