The Gulf South Conference just keeps getting stronger in baseball, Lee University coach Mark Brew said ahead of today’s opener of his 12th season as head of the Flames, but he has a strong core of seniors and juniors back from last year’s 27-23 team.
“The conference, which is always what I consider the best in (NCAA Division II), got even better with the addition of Montevallo and Auburn-Montgomery,” Brew said in a Lee release. “It is an ultra-competitive league, and our schedule is extremely challenging.”
That schedule starts today at 1 p.m. with a home doubleheader against Tuskegee. The teams are scheduled to play another game on Olympic Field on Sunday.
Brew is 510-168-2 for his Lee career, which included trips to the NAIA World Series every year he coached before the school’s move to the NCAA. He’ll be counting a lot on the leadership of seniors Peyton Meeker, Spencer Mossburg and Jordan Howard in the field and Wes Albert, Rob Gustitus, Joe Parete, Jay Prior and Jumpei Akanuma on the mound, along with junior second baseman Tyler Payne and junior catcher-infielder Miguel Pimentel.
The Flames also have promising newcomers in shortstop Fernando Ortiz, catcher Chase Gadau and pitchers Eric Freeman, Patrick Morrow, Logan Workman and Thomas Zazzaro.
In season openers for other area colleges Friday, Appalachian Athletic Conference favorites Tennessee Wesleyan and Bryan had mixed success – Bryan winning two games but TWU falling in a matchup of preseason top-15 teams – and Sewanee won 13-5 at LaGrange, which is No. 10 in the NCAA Division III poll.
At home in Dayton, Bryan won 3-2 over Rio Grande and 8-3 over Northwestern Ohio and plays both teams again today.
Covenant’s home game with Oglethorpe was moved to Tuesday at 2 p.m. because of the cold weather Friday, but those teams will play a doubleheader today in Atlanta as scheduled.
-Sewanee 13, LaGrange 5: At LaGrange, Ga., the visitors’ Chris McNulty doubled, singled and drove in three runs and Jared Demkowicz tripled, scored three runs and batted in two. Trey Akins, Beau Allen and Tyler Dunbar also had two hits apiece for the Tigers, who scored eight runs in the eighth inning with the help of eight walks, and Derek Hullings, McNulty and Max Murray each scored twice.
The five runs allowed by starting pitcher Drew Mancuso all were unearned, and four relievers held LaGrange to two hits in five innings.
-Middle Georgia State 11, Tennessee Wesleyan 1: At Cochran, Ga., the NAIA’s 15th-ranked team jumped on the No. 13 Bulldogs with three runs in the third inning and eight in the fifth. Tristan Clarke was 2-for-3 and Alexis Torres had the RBI hit for TWU. The Knights are 4-0.