MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Reinhardt College baseball team, the No. 7 seed, had its 2008 season come to an end on Thursday afternoon at the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament with a 13-8 loss to the top-seeded Lee University Flames, who are ranked third nationally in the NAIA. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament is being hosted by Faulkner University at Harrison Field and scheduled to conclude on Saturday.  

Reinhardt took a 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning but Lee, the SSAC regular-season champion, came back with two runs in the second and five in the third. The Eagles cut the deficit to 7-2 by scoring once in the top of the fourth inning but the Flames added to their advantage with three runs in the bottom half. Reinhardt again tallied a single run in the fifth inning and Lee responded by scoring three times in the bottom. Trailing 13-3, the Eagles battled down the stretch, scoring four times in the eighth inning and once in the ninth.

Each club had 14 hits and committed two errors. Reinhardt left 10 runners on base and the Flames six.

Offensively for the Eagles, Daniel Hester (Atlanta, Ga.) went 3-for-5 with a run scored while Jarrod Willis (Douglasville, Ga.) was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks and a run scored. Daniel Jape (Woodstock, Ga.) finished 2-for-4 with a home run, walk, two RBIs, two runs scored and two stolen bases while Michael Willis (Douglasville, Ga.) smacked two homers in five at-bats. Chris Nuckolls (Canton, Ga.) ended 1-for-1 and scored a run while Brad Blalock (Grayson, Ga.) went 1-for-2 with a double and pair of RBIs. Joe Niehoff (St. Cloud, Minn.) was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI while Greg Ihlenburg (Canton, Ga.) collected a hit and drove in a run. Freshman Harry Nutter (Jonesboro, Ga.) contributed a single and scored a run.

Joseph Bracelin (Canton, Ga.) was the starting and losing pitcher for Reinhardt, throwing 2⅔ innings with two strikeouts and a walk. Tossing the final three innings in relief was Matt Carter (Canton, Ga.), who allowed just one hit, along with no runs or walks with a strikeout.

Reinhardt wraps up its season at 29-28 overall after finishing 10-17 (seventh place) in the SSAC regular-season standings. Lee improves to 51-6 overall and ended 23-4 in the conference. The Flames advance to play in the tournament on Saturday.