MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Top-ranked Faulkner dropped a 3-1 decision to Middle Georgia State in the first game of a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader here Thursday before bouncing back to capture the nightcap 6-2 at Harrison Field.

The Game 1 loss was a critical one for the Eagles (39-10 overall, 21-5 SSAC), who now find themselves four games back in the loss column of league leader Auburn Montgomery. Faulkner has four conference games remaining, including three next week at AUM, while the Warhawks begin their weekend SSAC series Friday at Blue Mountain. An AUM sweep at Blue Mountain would lock up the regular-season championship prior to Faulkner's visit. The Eagles entered the 2015 season having won the past three conference titles.

The split allowed the Knights to improve to 16-28 overall and 7-20 in the SSAC.

Middle Georgia gained control early in Game 1, scoring in each of the first three innings off of Faulkner starter Jack Charleston. In the first Donovan Campbell, Logan Smith and Clint Wynn all had base hits, resulting in a 1-0 Knight lead. Two walks from Campbell in the second led to another Middle Georgia run, with Tristan Goodro scoring on Campbell's infield groundout for a 2-0 advantage. It grew to 3-0 an inning later on Goodro's RBI single.

Faulkner trimmed the deficit in the sixth. Robert Llera walked, and scored on Randy Joung's double. A walk to Nick Cain chased Middle Georgia starter Adam Johnson, who gave up only three hits but walked six and hit another batter. Leading 3-1 with two on and one out, Knight reliever Zach Massengale retired the next two Eagles to end the threat.

Charleston took the loss, his first of the season in dropping to 6-1. He went the distance, scattering seven hits and walking three. He had seven strikeouts. Middle Georgia's Johnson improved to 3-1 with the victory. The loss marked the first time all season that Faulkner lost back-to-back games, having dropped a mid-week matchup at Georgia Gwinnett Tuesday night.

The Eagles fell behind again in the second game as the Knights pushed across a first-inning run. In the bottom half of the first, however, Faulkner struck back. Cody Sos singled in Chris Madera to make it 1-1, and Nick Cain followed with a two-run double to put the Eagles on top 3-1.

After Middle Georgia cut the margin to 3-2 in the fourth, Llera doubled in two in the bottom half to increase the Faulkner lead to 5-2. A Dario Polanco RBI groundout in the fifth extended the advantage to 6-2.

Victor Arche, who allowed two runs and seven his in his first four innings of work, surrendered just one hit over the next four frames to earn the victory. Arche struck out nine batters in improving to 10-1 on the season. Julian Esquibel pitched a perfect ninth to close out the Knights, striking out two along the way.

The two teams conclude the series Friday at noon.