Tigers hold on to split at Lee

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Mitch Holgate got three hits and Tanner Rainey drove in three runs as West Alabama survived a last-inning scare to beat Lee, 4-3, in game two of a Gulf South Conference doubleheader Saturday at Olympic Park. Lee won the opener, 2-1, in 11 innings.

The split leaves West Alabama with a 14-6 overall record, 6-5 in the conference. Lee is 13-7 and 6-5. The Tigers and Flames play the rubber game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m.

After dropping game one in 11 innings, the Tigers took a comfortable 4-0 led into the last inning of the nightcap before Lee used just one hit, a walk, a hit batter and two Tiger throwing errors to score three runs.

The Tigers scored singe runs in the second and third innings of he nightcap, with Holgate and Rainey each getting run scoring singles, respectively. West Alabama scored what looked like two insurance runs that turned into game winners on a two-out, two-run single by Rainey in the seventh.

UWA game one starter Zach Parks did not allow a hit and faced the minimum through seven innings, but the Tigers left a runner on third base in three of the first six innings, managing just one run in a three-hit sixth inning. Adam Chamblee’s double plated Tyler Richburg with UWA’s only run of the game in the sixth inning.

Zachary Hawkins and Josh Tate led off the Lee eighth with singles before Siosi Poti’s fielder’s choice scored Hawkins to tie the game and chase Parks. Matt Betts pitched out of a jam in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Andres Nelo singled in Jordan Stewart with the game-winning run with nobody out in the 11th.

Fernando Gonzalez (3-1) allowed just one earned run and struck out seven to pick up the pitching win in the nightcap. Neal Lambert earned his first save by getting Zack Zyburt to ground out to second with the bases loaded in the seventh. Nikolay Uherek (3-2) took the loss.

Grayson Bailey (1-0) earned the win in game one in relief of starter Jeremy Stawychny. Brock Ward (0-1) was tagged with the UWA loss.

Chamblee had three hits of West Alabama’s seven hits in the opener. Nelo and Hawkins each had a pair of hits for the Flames in game one. Gonzales, Steven Glasgow and Lambert limited Lee to just three hits in the second game.