Lee University’s baseball team finished in the top four of the NAIA World Series for the fifth year in a row but again is without a championship.
After losing 13-3 to neighbor Tennessee Wesleyan in the late game Tuesday, the second-seeded Flames lost 7-5 to ninth seed Rogers State of Oklahoma on Wednesday, ending their season at 56-11-1.
Wesleyan then sustained its first loss in the tournament, 7-3 to top-seeded LSU Shreveport, and will play the Pilots again tonight at 9:35 EDT. The winner will face Rogers State (49-15) at that time Friday. Rogers edged Shreveport (54-5) on Saturday, 2-1.
Wesleyan (51-12) had only three hits going into the bottom of the ninth but regained some momentum despite its first loss in 18 games as Taylor Oldham singled, Jordan Guida hit a two-run homer, Dale Ricketts doubled and Thomas Sicking tripled. Guida was 2-for-3 for the Athens team.
The Pilots totaled 14 hits with three from David Dorton and two apiece from Ridge Gonsoulin, Kyle Pearson, Kade Billeaudeaux and Brandon Cooksey.