May 26, 2007

LEWISTON, Idaho - Lee (Tenn.) right fielder Andrew Shaver's lead-off ground-rule double set the stage in the bottom of the 12th and after two batters reached to load the bases, first baseman Aaron Simmons lifted a sacrifice fly into center, earning Lee a 5-4 win over St. Thomas (Fla.) in the first extra-inning World Series game since the 2006 championship game between Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Cumberland (Tenn.).

Lee (51-14) had jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three innings, scoring two in the first on an Elvis Sosa RBI single through the middle and a bases-loaded walk by Michael Valadez that brought home Lance Zawadzki to put the Flames on top 2-0.

The Flames would strike again in the third, as Zawadzki singled to lead off the inning and moved to third after a base hit by Simmons and a sacrifice bunt from Sosa. Zawadzki scored a play later on a wild pitch by St. Thomas (46-16-1) starter Hector Nelo, giving the flames a three-run lead.

St. Thomas got one back in the top of the fifth, starting with an Adrian Gonzalez single to right and two hit batsmen that loaded the bases with one out. Juan Santana was coaxed into an infield pop-up for the second out of the inning, but St. Thomas scored a batter later when Angel Hernandez drew an RBI walk to make the score 3-1.

Lee went up 4-1 with a run in the seventh when Shaver crossed the plate on a Zawadzki sac fly, but in its next turn at the plate, St. Thomas got three runs to tie the game at 4-4, which would prove to force extra innings.

The Bobcats opened the eighth with a one-out walk drawn by Hernandez, followed by a Hamzeld Diaz RBI-double to right center that pushed Hernandez across and cut the lead to two. Orlando Alvarez, a courtesy runner for the catcher Diaz, moved to third on a wild pitch from Lee reliever Daniel Howard, and Alvarez cut the Flames' lead to a run two batters later on an Aliercy Nunez double that moved Daniel DiFabio, who walked, to third. DiFabio came in to tie the game at 4-4 on the inning's second wild pitch to close scoring in the inning.

Lee moved a runner to third with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Edgar Mercado was put down on strikes by Nelo to end the threat and send the game into the ninth, and in the top of the ninth, Bobcat designated hitter Otto Couto reached and moved to second on a passed ball, followed by a stolen base with one out. The Lee defense held, as Couto was cut down on the basepath at home on a ground ball by Santana, who was later caught stealing at second to end the ninth-inning threat.

Lee went down in order in its half of the ninth, and again in the top of the tenth, St. Thomas put a runner at third with two outs. Matt Montgomery, who tossed 2.1 innings in relief, got Nunez to line out to left to end the inning and in the bottom of the 10th, Simmons laced a one-out double for the Flames but could not come home as Bobcat reliever Tim Davis got two quick outs to end the inning.

Both teams went down in order in the 11th, while Cody Campbell put the Bobcats down in the 12th for the Flames to give Lee a chance at 12th-inning heroics.

Shaver went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the win for Lee, while Simmons and Sosa also came up with two hits and Zawadzki scored twice in the extra-inning win. Campbell picked up the win for the Flames to improve to 11-2 on the year, while Davis (2-2) took the season-ending defeat for the Bobcats.

St. Thomas' last extra-inning game in the Series came in 1998, when the Bobcats eliminated Point Park (Pa.) 13-8 in 10 innings in the tournament's fifth game. The last extra-inning day two elimination game was also a 10-inning game, as Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) eliminated Bellevue 7-6 in game six of the 2002 Series. The game also marked the longest game since 1995, when Lewis-Clark State beat Birmingham-Southern in 12, 11-6.