Tuesday night was the seventh scheduled exhibition game between the Chattanooga Lookouts and Chattanooga State at AT&T Field, and it was the tightest one yet.
Jake Lemmerman's sacrifice to right field in the third inning scored Nick Buss to give the Lookouts a 1-0 lead, and that wound up being the seven-inning final. It was the second consecutive close call, with the Lookouts claiming last year's meeting 4-2.
"It was a good game again," Lookouts manager Carlos Subero said. "They make it tough on us. Give them credit for being a college team and playing a legit 1-0 game."
The Lookouts and Tigers had three hits apiece, and each team left five runners on base. Chatt State had runners on third and second with one out in the second inning before suffering consecutive strikeouts, the second of which foiled a squeeze bunt.
"We certainly don't come into this with the idea of being confident, but we come into it with the idea of staying within ourselves and that within reason we should be able to compete," Tigers coach Greg Dennis said. "We come out here and talk about what we've done in the previous 40 games. These last two years have been super, and the Lookouts are so kind and gracious that they just make this a great night for our program."
Buss opened the third with a bunt single and advanced to second on the game's only error. He stole third with Lemmerman at the plate.
"It was a fun game playing these guys," Buss said. "They were a good team that played great defense, and their hitters were very disciplined."
David Paschall is a sports writer for the Times Free Press. He started at the Chattanooga Free Press in 1990 and was part of the Times Free Press when the paper started in 1999. David covers University of Georgia football, as well as SEC football recruiting, SEC basketball, Chattanooga Lookouts baseball and other sports stories. He is a Chattanooga native and graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received numerous honors for ...
