CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The University of West Alabama baseball team dropped the series opener to Lee University in Gulf South Conference play with a 16-0 loss on Friday night from Larry Carpenter Stadium at Olympic Field. 

Lee, ranked 14th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), improves to 27-9 and 15-4 in the league. West Alabama falls to 17-19 and 9-13.

After Lee's Jack Nedrow retired the Tigers in the opening inning on four pitches, the Flames went to work in the bottom half. Dylan Standifer, who led off by reaching on an error at third base, later scored on a sac fly by JJ Williams. 

The Flames added three runs after cashing in on back-to-back singles and a one-out walk. 

Luke Collier scored Lee's fourth run in the game with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the third. 

Lee poured it on in the bottom of the fourth with a six-run frame, led by back-to-back home runs by Cam Suto and Brandon Daniels. 

The lead swelled to 13-0 with the fourth long ball of the game by the Flames thanks to a two-run shot by Matthew Batts. 

West Alabama was only able to muster one hit in the contest with Nick Thibodeau reaching with two outs in the second, Jack Nedrow (7-0) faced one batter over the minimum and struck out five on 68 pitches. 

Cam Suto led the Flames with six RBIs on 3-for-6 at the dish. 

UWA and Lee will wrap up the series on Saturday at noon CST with a doubleheader.