The Lee University baseball team, ranked seventh in the NAIA, completed a weekend nonconference sweep of Talladega College by winning 17-8 and 2-0, but the Flames pulled out that last game despite getting no hits.
Lee (33-10) got seven walks and the visitors made two errors in the game, while Tornado pitcher James Rodriguez threw 124 pitches in the seven innings.
Jay Bolen (6-1) pitched a two-hitter and Trey Burstrom scored both runs for the Flames. He reached base on an error in the fourth, stole second and moved around on a Ross Collins bunt and a balk. Burstrom stole two bases in the sixth and scored on the catcher’s errant throwing trying to get him at third.
Junior Rodriguez had a grand slam in the first inning, a solo home run in the second and seven RBIs in pacing the first-game rout for the Flames, who moved into a first-place tie at 10-5 in the Southern States Athletic Conference with Faulkner, which swept fourth-ranked Southern Polytechnic. Also in the first game, Burstrom reached base four times, scored four runs and drove in one, JJ Costantino drove in three runs and scored two, Tanner Moore doubled and singled and scored twice and Phil Johnson doubled in two runs.
* Milligan 3-1, Bryan 2-2: At Dayton, the Lions won the finale and the series against the 20th-ranked Buffaloes, who came to town in first place in the AAC. Adam Polston allowed four hits in six innings and Josh Smith got his second save of the weekend by holding Milligan (14-12, 13-5) to nothing when entering with runners on third and first and no outs in the seventh. Ryan Henn homered and Pablo Rodriguez was 2-for-2 for Bryan (18-24, 9-9), and Shane Clawson had the winning RBI hit.
In Friday’s 9-7 win, Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs, Clawson was 3-for-4 and scored twice and Jonathan Davis was 3-for-5 with a homer and a double.
Tennessee Wesleyan dropped to second in the AAC Saturday by splitting at Reinhardt. TWC (29-11, 12-4) won 6-5 and lost 10-0.
* Covenant 9-14, Montreat 2-2: At Montreat, N.C., Sterling Witt was 4-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored as the Scots swept the AAC doubleheader. Andre Glover needed just 93 pitches to complete the first game, and Demarius Johnson followed with a five-inning three-hitter and six strikeouts.
James Rollins was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Luke Furuto had two hits, two runs and an RBI in the first game for Covenant (14-12, 8-9). Taylor Oldham homered along with Witt in game two and was 3-for-4 with five RBIs, while Cody Baxter was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs and Brandon Hagopian was 2-for-2 and scored twice.
* Columbia State 6-10, Cleveland State 4-11: At Columbia, Tenn., the visiting Cougars pulled out the second-game win in the 11th inning on Cody Ferrell’s third homer of the TCCAA doubleheader. Zach Driggers got the win in relief, retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced in the slugfest. Drew Fox tripled in a run and Cody Hooper and Adam Hindman had RBI doubles before Ferrell’s three-run homer gave Cleveland State a 10-7 lead.
Hooper and Brandon Rader had RBI hits ahead of Ferrell’s first-game homer.
* Walters State 7-5, Chattanooga State 1-3: At Morristown, the ninth-ranked team in NJCAA Division I completed a TCCAA series sweep against what had been its closest challenger as Will Scott pitched a four-hitter with seven strikeouts and Kyle Deese then saved a shaky win for Shane Grimm. Wes Walker had a two-run homer and Sam Munson was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs in the first game for the Senators (21-6, 15-2), who scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of each game.
Taylor Eaves was 3-for-5 with four RBIs for the day and homered in each game for Chattanooga State (25-10, 11-6). Dylan Coleman was 2-for-3 in game two, when whe Tigers scored all their runs in the seventh inning.
* DePauw 19-31, Sewanee 1-10: At Greencastle, Ind., Alan Komorowski and Chris Mauro each was 2-for-3 in the first loss for Sewanee (6-22, 1-10) in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep, and Mauro homered twice among four hits and drove in six runs in game two. Michael Joseph had three hits with a homer and three RBIs, and Rascoe Dean also had three hits.
* King 10-12, Hiwassee 0-2: At Bristol, the hosts improved to 19-9 with a five-hitting two-hitter by Tyler Malone and a five-inning six-hitter by Wesley Houser. Corey Willig was 2-for-2 and scored for Hiwassee in game two.
Sewanee women fall
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College defeated Sewanee 18-11 in NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse Saturday.
Steffi Renninger scored four goals and Megan Welton added three for Sewanee (9-3).