PULASKI, Tenn. - Faulkner dropped the opener of a doubleheader 4-3 to Martin Methodist here Saturday afternoon but responded with an 8-2 victory in the nightcap to take two of three games in the Southern States Athletic Conference series at the East Campus Baseball Complex.

With the split, the second-ranked Eagles are 32-6 overall and 14-4 in the SSAC. Martin Methodist is now 18-9 overall and 7-7 in the league.

In the bounce back second game, Jack Charleston tossed seven scoreless innings, surrendering only three hits while the Faulkner offense came alive. A pair of walks and a RedHawk error allowed the Eagles to load the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth. Nick Cain singled in the first run of the game and Junior Santos followed with a two-run double later in the inning and a 3-0 lead.

Faulkner added to the lead in the fifth. scoring an unearned run to push the margin to 4-0. Chris Madera's run-scoring single made it 5-0 an inning later, and that's the lead the Eagles took into the bottom of the eighth inning. 

With two outs, Charleston lost the shutout when Martin Methodist's Evan Fergerson homered over the right-field wall. Faulkner head coach Patrick McCarthy then brought in reliever Patrick McGrady, and he was greeted by Austin Schubert's home run to left to trim the Eagles' lead to 5-2.

McGrady shut down the RedHawks the rest of the way, and Faulkner added three insurance runs in the ninth to slam the door. Jackson Webb drove in two of the runs with a single, and Santos doubled in the Eagles' final run. Charleston improved his record to 4-0 with the victory, while Elliot Bush (2-4) took the loss. Santos had four hits and three RBIs for the Eagles, while Madera added a pair of hits.

"When you can go on the road and win a series, that's always a great weekend," said McCarthy, whose team is still yet to lose back-to-back games this season. "When this team has been against the wall, it's fought back. I like how we've responded after a loss."

In the seven-inning Game 1 loss, Faulkner took a 2-0 lead with Edgar Figueroa's solo homer in the second inning and an unearned run in the third. In the bottom of the third inning, however, Eagles' starter Phillip Anderson was rocked for four runs on five hits, sending nine batters to the plate.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Seth Staggs drew a walk to trim the Faulkner advantage to 2-1. Fergerson followed with a two-run single to give the WarHawks the lead, and Schubert ended the uprising with another RBI base hit to make it 4-2.

The Eagles trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the top of the fifth when Madera, who had singled, scored on Dario Polanco's double. Polanco stole third with out out, but Faulkner couldn't take advantage when both Dennis Morton and Figueroa grounded out to end the threat. The Eagles also left two baserunners on in the sixth, and finished with seven stranded in the game.

Anderson lost his second straight decision, falling to 5-2 on the season. Blake Beavers improved to 6-1 with the victory. Faulkner outhit Martin Methodist 7-5, but no Eagle had multiple hits in the game.

Faulkner travels to Waleska, Ga., Tuesday for a non-conference battle with Reinhardt. The game will start at 5 p.m. central time.