Southern States Athletic Conference

     MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Third-ranked Lee spotted Auburn Montgomery an early four-run lead then scored 10 of its own in a three-inning stretch en route to a 10-6 victory Saturday afternoon, sending the Senators to their first loss in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament.

     Lee advances to play the winner of Saturday afternoon's Southern Wesleyan-Faulkner game Saturday night for the right to face Auburn Montgomery for the tournament championship Sunday afternoon at 1. The Senators earned the bye because they were the tournament's last undefeated team.

     The Senators jumped on top in the top of the first on Chase Burch's grand slam, his third home run of the tournament. The lead stood until the bottom of the third when Jeremy Hutslar's three-run homer highlighted a four-run outburst that tied the game at 4.

     The game was tied at 6 in the fifth when Lee broke it open. Edgar Mercado's three-run blast was the big blow in the inning for the Flames, who also got a run-scoring double from Ryan Stovall in the four-run inning. Clint Harrelson and Mercado each had three hits for Lee, while Stovall added two.

     The Senators got three hits apiece from Burch and Shane Moye, and two each from Cody Shields and Daniel Jones.

     Following the tough beginning Lee starter Pablo Lopez settled down, scattering 12 hits in his complete-game effort to improve to 8-0 on the season. Briggs Bishop took the loss for AUM and fell to 3-5.