Lee University opened its baseball season Saturday at home in Cleveland with 9-3 and 7-5 victories over Urbana University from Ohio.
Justin Fragale homered and Dylan Standifer hit a two-run double as the Flames took the lead in the fourth inning of game one, and Landon Silver had a leadoff home run and a sacrifice fly in their six-run sixth. Standifer was 2-for-3 and Silver 2-for-4, and starting pitcher Logan Workman allowed three hits and two earned runs in five innings, with six strikeouts.
Alex Harper-Cook allowed seven hits and three earned runs in his four innings in game two but struck out eight Blue Knights and benefited from another six-run inning. That included a two-run double by Joshua Perez and a three-run homer by Cody Smith, and Perez added an RBI single the next inning.
Cleveland State 14-15, Southwest Virginia 2-4
Also in Cleveland, the Cougars opened with two run-rule wins. The five-inning first game featured an 11th-run second that included a three-run double by Alex Ray, two bases-loaded walks for Andrew Carpenter and a hit-by-pitch RBI for Lance Dockery. Jonathan Hickman also had three RBIs in the inning, and Alex Coulter was 2-for-3 for the game with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. Bryce Jenkins struck out seven Flying Eagles in four innings.
Reese Plemons hit a two-run double in that first game and was the winning pitcher in the rematch, when Cal Cook homered and matched Dockery with three RBIs, Hickman had two RBIs and Carpenter scored four times.
Georgia Highlands 11-9, Chattanooga State 0-7
At Rome, the hosts completed a three-game sweep, beginning with a 14-4 win Friday. Tigers catcher James Basham hit a three-run homer in Friday’s loss.
Bryan 9, Rio Grande 1
At Dayton, the NAIA’s 18th-ranked Lions repeated Friday’s sweep of the Ohio school and Talladega College. Against Rio Grande, Tyler Scott was 3-for-3 with a homer, three runs and three RBIs and Jacob Justice was 1-for-1 and Destine Udombon 1-for-2 with two RBIs each. Pitchers David Walker, Cameron Harvey and Tristan Allison combined on a seven-inning three-hitter.
Bryan 7, Talladega 6
Justice was 1-for-1 with two RBIs again, this time with a home run, and Wade Weinburger was 2-for-3 with two RBIs as well as the Lions rose to 4-0. They survived a two-run top of the final inning.
Compiled by Ron Bush. Contact him at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.