Jack Nedrow supplied the pitching and Cam Suto delivered the hitting as the Lee University baseball team came from behind to defeat the University of West Florida 7-3 on Friday evening and win their first Gulf South Conference regular season championship since 2021.
The Flames improved their conference record to 22-6 (35-13 overall) and Auburn Montgomery dropped to 19-9 after a loss to Montevallo on Friday. West Florida stands at 16-12 in league play and 26-19 overall. Lee and the Argonauts will return to Jim Spooner Field on Saturday for a doubleheader which will get underway at 2 p.m. The two games will conclude the regular season and GSC tournament play begins on Friday.
Nedrow weathered the first inning which saw the Argonauts not only score their only three runs of the game, but also pick up three of their four hits. Lee’s ace pitcher worked 8.1 innings, fanned eight and walked three as he improved his record to a perfect 10-0 on the year. Tim Gooden came on to record the final two outs.
Suto enjoyed a perfect 5-for-5 performance at the plate, including two homeruns, a double and two singles. He now has a team-leading 15 homeruns on the year and 62 RBI.
The Flames cut the 3-0 Argo lead to 3-2 in the top of the third inning. Brantley Cutler singled and scored on Suto’s first long homer of the evening over the left-field fence.
Lee went ahead to stay in the top of the sixth with two runs to make it a 4-3 game. The rally began with two outs when Riley Black collected a one-base hit and Luke Collier was hit by a pitch. The Flames got a huge break when Josiah Miller struck out swinging on a wild pitch but reached first on the play to load the bases.
The inning continued when Cutler reach on a fielder’s choice. During the same play at second base the shortstop was charged with a throwing error that got away from the second baseman and allowed Black and Collier to score.
The Flames added a single run in the seventh when Suto struck again. This time with another homerun over the left-field fence to make it a 5-3 game. Two big insurance runs went up on the board in the eighth. Miller started the rally with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Dylan Standifer collected a RBI with a one-base knock and later scored on Brandon Daniels’ one-base hit.
All totaled, Lee garnered 13 hits. Matthew Batts joined in the hit parade with a double and Black also reached base three times, two coming by free passes.
Jacob Heath (5-5) was the starting and losing West Florida pitcher. He hurled 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits but only two earned runs. He struck out seven and walked one. Dilan Lawson came on for 2.0 frames and gave up four hits and three earned runs. Tyler Dowdy worked the final 1.1 innings and gave up a pair of hits and no earned runs.
Jadon Fryman was the only Argonaut with two hits. He had a RBI and scored a run. Darrien McDowell, who came into the game with 20 homeruns was held to just a single. However, he was robbed of an extra-base hit by an outstanding catch by Daniels in the eighth inning. Cade Easterbrook had a double and drove in two of West Florida’s three runs.