Lee Baseball Team Set for NAIA World Series

The Lee University Baseball Team gained a berth in the NAIA World Series with a 22-4 romp over Belhaven College. The Flames ran their overall record to 50-12 and will take on Campbellsville University in the first round of the 2009 Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, ID this Friday.

The Flames were led by Sr. First Baseman Chris Warters. The 2nd Team All-American from Los Angeles had 5 hits in the contest along with 11 RBIs and a mammoth home run in the first inning. Warters now has 77 RBIs on the season and is 5 away from tying his own record of 82 he set last season. He is batting 447 with 16 home runs and 77 RBIs.

Lee University, an NAIA school located in Cleveland, TN, has had a top notch Baseball program for quite some time. The win over Belhaven gives the Flames their 50th win of the season. Lee has won at least 50 games for the fourth time in the last five years. The Flames are currently ranked 10th in the nation. Their first opponent in the NAIA World Series, Campbellsville, is ranked #8 nationally.

One player on the Lee squad hales from Lilburn, GA and was a stellar player at Providence Christian Academy. His name is J.D. Pullen and is a Freshman Outfielder. Though he has not had much playing time this year, Lee Head Coach Mark Brew is very high on the young man: " JD is one of the quickest players on the team and can really cover some ground in the OF. He really fits into our offensive system being able to run the bases and play really strong defense. If he continues to improve at the plate, JD could turn into a solid player in the future."

The Flames open their first round game in the World Series with Campbellsville University from Campbellsville, KY on Friday at 11:30am EDT in Lewiston, ID. Good luck to the Flames! Information in this article was gleaned from the Lee University Athletic Website www.goflames.com