MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner tuned up for the opening weekend of Southern States Athletic Conference action with a doubleheader sweep of Talladega here Tuesday afternoon, winning 10-0 and 9-3 at Harrison Field.

The fifth-ranked Eagles (8-0) were never headed by the Tornadoes (2-6), who was an NAIA national tournament participant a season ago.

"I think we're ready to get into conference play, and I'm pleased by the different ways we've found to win games thus far," Faulkner head coach Patrick McCarthy said. "Everything changes though in our league. This weekend will be good for us in a number of ways. For one, we'll see how we respond in a road setting. The games against Mobile will be our first away from home, and I'm interested to see how we react to that."

In the opener, Brian Bass pitched four hitless innings to earn his first win of the season. The junior right-hander struck out four and walked only one. Tyler Crouch allowed one hit in his two innings of work, while Gabe Neustadt, tossed a perfect seventh to close it out.

Offensively, Mike Correa had three singles and drove in five runs, including a two-run base hit that highlighted a four-run first inning. Robert Llera continued his torrid start to the season, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. His two-run homer helped the Eagles build an 7-0 lead after just two innings. Cody Sos added three hits, including a double, two runs scored and two RBIs. Nick Cain also had two hits and an RBI, and scored a pair of runs.

Faulkner added two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to close out the scoring.

In Game 2, Faulkner scored three times in both the second and third innings and coasted to the victory. Alexis Torres, Dario Polanco and Llera all had two RBIs apiece. Cain was the only Eagle with two hits. Randy Joung had a hit, an RBI and two runs scored, while Correa added a pair of runs as well.

Jackson Webb earned the victory, allowing three runs and seven hits in his four innings on the mound. Vinny Lujan and Christian Torres combined for three innings of hitless relief to close out the Tornadoes.

Faulkner travels to Mobile this weekend to face the Rams in the opening series of Southern States Athletic Conference play. Game 1 of the three-game set is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday.