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."