Southern States Athletic Conference

     MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Third-ranked Lee recovered quickly from Thursday night's loss to Faulkner, exploding for all its runs in the first five innings en route to a 13-8 victory over Reinhardt Friday afternoon in the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball tournament.

     The regular season champion Flames, 51-6, advance to Saturday's action, when they will play Auburn Montgomery. Gametime will be either at 1 or 4 p.m., depending on the rest of Friday's results. Reinhardt ends its season at 29-28.

     Brian Bistagne went 4-for-5 with three RBIs to lead the Lee attack, which also got a three-run home run from Chris Dubon. Chris Warters added two hits and two RBIs for the Flames. Lee's Clint Harrelson had a solo home run. Starting pitcher Joel Matthews went six strong innings for the Flames, allowing three earned runs on seven hits to improve to 8-1 on the season. Jospeh Bracelin took the loss for the Eagles.

     Reinhardt took a 1-0 in the first on a Greg Ihlenburg RBI since, but it didn't take long for Lee to take control. A two-run bottom of the second gave the Flames the lead, and Dubon's blast highlighted a five-run third that built the advantage to 7-1. Lee scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, pushing the margin to 13-3. A four-run eighth brought the Eagles closer, but the Flames' Josh Brundidge closed things out in the ninth.

    Reinhardt's Michael Willis had a pair of solo home runs, while Daniel Jape also homered and drove in two. Daniel Hester added three hits for the Eagles.