Box Score MONTGOMERY, Ala. - No. 9 Tennessee Wesleyan took advantage of two Faulkner errors in the top of the ninth inning to escape with a 5-4 victory here Monday afternoon over the top-ranked Eagles at Harrison Field.
The decisive inning began with Shell McCain reaching on a throwing error by Faulkner shortstop Edgar Figueroa. After being sacrificed to second, he scored when Wardy Polanco's ground ball was thrown away by Eagle third baseman Mike Correa. Tennessee Wesleyan's winning rally came without the benefit of a hit.
The victory pushed the Bulldogs to 35-9 overall, while the Eagles dropped to 40-11. Tayler Saucedo (4-1), the fifth Tennessee Wesleyan pitcher, earned the victory, with Logan Longwith locking down his seventh save by pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth. Brian Bass (2-1), the seventh Faulkner pitcher, took the loss.
The Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the top of the first inning off of Faulkner starter Kurt Lipscomb. McCain was hit by a pitch, and moved to third on a looping single by Brad Carpenter, who was thrown out trying to make second base on the hit. Polanco's grounder toward first got by Correa, allowing McCain to score the game's first run.
A couple of singles in the second inning resulted in a 2-0 Tennessee Wesleyan lead, with McCain's RBI base hit up the middle knocking in the run. Faulkner had two on with one out in its half of the second, but Dennis Morton was picked off of second and Junior Santos off of first to end the threat.
Tennessee Wesleyan touched up Eagle reliever Christian Torres for another run in the third. Tyler Albert singled in Jordan Garrett, who had doubled, to push the Bulldog advantage to 3-0. Three hits in the bottom of the fourth resulted in Faulkner's first run, with Mario Amaral's single to right-center scoring Chris Madera to trim the deficit to 3-1.The Bulldogs got the run right back in the fifth on Ridge Hoopi-Haslam's solo homer off of Alejandro Castro, the Eagles' third pitcher of the afternoon.
Faulkner tied it in the bottom of the fifth, with Dario Polanco's two-run homer highlighting a three-run inning. Alexis Torres' infield groundout scored Madera, who had doubled, to deadlock things at 4. Both teams had opportunities in the late innings before Tennessee Wesleyan finally cashed in.
Faulkner travels cross-town to face 12th-ranked Auburn Montgomery Thursday and Friday in a three-game series that will decide the Southern States Athletic Conference regular season championship. Thursday's game is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch, with Friday's doubleheader scheduled to begin at 3.
