CLEVELAND, Tenn. --- Jake Edwards' walk-off single in the 10th inning led the Lee Flames to a 7-6 non-conference win over visiting Tusculum Tuesday night at The Carp.
The Flames (14-17) gain a split in the season series with the Pioneers (13-17) avenging last Tuesday's 11-5 loss in Greeneville.
Pinch hitter Matthew Batts led off the bottom of the 10th inning with triple to right centerfield and Edwards followed with the game-winning single to right to seal the one-run victory.
The Flames jumped out to a 6-1 lead, only to see the Pioneers plate five runs in the top of the sixth to knot the score at 6-6.
Lee jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as Nate Bynum hit a two-out double and Thomas Zazzaro followed with a RBI single to left field. The Pioneers answered with a run in the fourth when Ryan Dos Santos scored from third on a throwing error on Tyler Ranel's two-out grounder.
The Flames responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to five hits by the home team along with a TU error. Jared Demkowicz plated a pair of runs with his one-out single and Edwards came drove in a pair with his base hit to make it a 5-1 score. Lee tacked on another run in the fifth when Dylan Standifer led off with a double and later scored on a TU fielding error to extend the lead to 6-1.
In the top of the sixth, the Pioneers rallied with five runs on five hits to even the score at 6-6. Blaze McCauley drove in Tyler Ranel with a one-out base hit. After Luis Ezra singled to load the bases, Will Samuelson scored on a wild pitch. Jaden Steagall loaded the bases again with a walk and Britten Robinson drew another free pass to bring home the inning's third run. Dos Santos drove in Ezra with a base hit to make it 6-5. The Pioneers tied the game thank s to the second wild pitch of the inning to bring in Steagall.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Pioneers had runners on first and second with no outs, but McCauley lined out to Brandon Daniels in right field, who fired a throw to second base to double-up the Pioneers. Reliever Landon Maynor than got a fly out to end the inning.
The Flames had something going in the bottom of the eighth as Demkowicz drew a leadoff walk. Grant Lackey came into the pinch run and he was bunt over to second base on Edwards' bunt. TU reliever Justin Parker came into the game and hit Bynum with a pitch. But Parker bounced back and got Zazzaro to ground into a fielder's choice and ended the inning with a fly out.
Tusculum got pinch-runner Kyle Williams, representing the go-ahead run, to third base with two outs in the 10th inning, but Zazzaro, who came into pitch, got a ground out to end the inning and setting the table for Lee in the bottom of the frame.
The Flames finished the game with a dozen hits including two-hit performances by Zazzaro, Daniels and Edwards. Tusculum accounted for nine singles including two hits each from Dos Santos, Ranel and McCauley.
Zazzaro (1-0), who pitched the 10th inning, picked up the victory, while Parker (2-3) suffered the loss for the Pioneers.
For Tusculum, this marks its fourth extra-inning loss of the season and its sixth one-run game of the year.
TU's Jonathan Nelson pitched 1.1 shutout innings, while Jacob Willett tossed two innings where he walked one and struck out a pair.
The Pioneers will host in-state foe King University on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. contest at Pioneer Park.
