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Box Score 2 MONTGOMERY, Ala. - In a battle of Top 5 NAIA teams, top-ranked Faulkner battled back from behind to edge No. 4 Missouri Baptist 5-4 here Friday afternoon at Harrison Field. The Eagles then fell to No. 15 Lindsey Wilson 4-1, surrendering four runs on only two hits in the final inning.
With the split, the Eagles stand at 4-1 on the season. In Friday's other game, Lindsey Wilson nipped Missouri Baptist 6-5 in 12 innings.
Against Missouri Baptist (0-2), Faulkner scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning of the seven-inning affair to erase a 3-2 deficit. After Dauris Holguin's sacrifice fly knocked in Michael Cruz with the tying run, Estaban Paula scored the go-ahead run when Spartan right-fielder Enrique Pagan misplayed Randy Joung's single. Missouri Baptist pitcher Carl Jameson then balked Juong home to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead heading to the seventh.
Faulkner's Labradford Griffis earned the save, but not before some two-out drama from the Spartans. A walk and a single were followed by a run-scoring double by Orlando Olivera to trim the lead to 5-4, only to have Griffin strike out Pagan to end the game. Patrick McGrady earned his first win, retiring two batters in the sixth in relief of Faulkner starter Julian Esquibel. Jameson took the loss for Missouri Baptist.
"We didn't play too well, but we did find a way to win," Faulkner head coach Patrick McCarthy said. "We got some big hits when we had to have them, however, we have to play better than we did today."
The Eagles jumped on top with a run in the bottom of the first, with Esteban Paula singling in Luis Sanchez for a 1-0 lead. The Spartans answered with three runs in the second, taking advantage of three walks issued in the inning by Esquibel. Ryan Clarke drove in the first on a fielder's choice grounder, and Brent Zimmerman singled in two more to give Missouri Baptist a 3-1 advantage.
Faulkner cut the margin to 3-2 in the third on a Michael Cruz RBI single, setting the stage for the Eagles' decisive sixth inning.
In the loss to Lindsey Wilson (2-3), senior right-hander Jeremy Holcombe allowed only one hit through six scoreless innings before the Blue Raiders fought back in the seventh. Holcombe, who struck out seven, allowed a pinch-hit single to Leonardo Ramirez to open the inning. Michael Osnowitz then laid down a bunt, but in an attempt to force Ramirez at second, Holcombe's throw sailed into centerfield. A walk then loaded the bases, and the Blue Raiders took the lead when Faulkner shortstop Dauris Holguin's throw on Jeandro Andino's grounder got away, allowing two runs to score. Lindsey Wilson added two more runs, one on a sacrifice fly and the other on an RBI single, to close out the four-run outburst.
Faulkner had taken a 1-0 lead in the third on a run-scoring single by Sanchez.
Lindsey Wilson's Jason Turner tossed a complete-game five hitter to earn his first win of the season for the Blue Raiders (2-3).
Faulkner battles Missouri Baptist again Saturday afternoon at 2:30, and concludes the weekend with a 5 p.m. game against No. 10 Cumberland.
