NEW ALBANY, Miss. - Top-ranked Faulkner got a pair of great pitching performances to open its Southern States Athletic Conference schedule in style, sweeping Blue Mountain 2-0 and 8-2 here Saturday afternoon.

Both Thomas Dorminy and Jeremy Holcombe kept Blue Mountain scoreless in their outings - Dorminy in a complete-game, one-hit shutout in Game 1 and Holcombe in allowing only three hits in six innings of work. The Eagles improved to 7-2 overall and are 2-0 in the SSAC, with the finale of three-game series with Blue Mountain set for Monday. The Toppers fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

Dorminy struck out 10 in his sparkling start, getting single runs of support in both the third and fourth innings. Faulkner managed only four hits in the opener, with Luis Sanchez collecting a pair for the Eagles. He also added an RBI, as did Kevin Torres. In the nightcap, Luis Sanchez smashed a grand slam in the sixth inning to break open the game for Faulkner, which pounded out 13 hits in the victory. Sanchez had three of the hits and scored four runs, while Randy Joung and Dauris Holguin had two hits apiece.

"Dorminy was lights out and Holcombe pitched really well too," Faulkner head coach Patrick McCarthy said. "It was good to see us manufacture some runs today. And it's always nice to get off to a good start in the conference."

The first pitch for Monday's third game of the series is set for 3 p.m.