MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner pounced on Middle Georgia State in Game 1 of this afternoon's Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader with a 9-1 victory in six innings, but struggled to keep pace with the Knights in the second contest falling 9-4 here at Wynn Field. 

The visitors claimed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but soon painted themselves into a corner giving way to a Faulkner scoring spree. 

The Lady Eagles scored first on a bases-loaded walk in the second inning to tie the game before capitalizing on a pair of crucial Middle Georgia errors to gain a sizable lead in the fourth.

A bobbled grounder ushered in the go-ahead run with two outs on the board before a dropped fly ball in the outfield paved the way for further damages. Sophie Slemp crushed a three-run blast to left field and Faulkner never looked back.

Abbie Pierce delivered a two-RBI double to left field in the fifth inning and Hannah Qualls brought the game to an early close with a two-RBI hit to left center in the sixth.

Qualls and Pierce were each 3-for-4 in the first game with a pair of RBIs. Qualls also scored twice. 

Mattie Dotson (11-8) logged a career-high 11th win in the opener. The senior tallied nine strikeouts while allowing eight hits and just a single earned run in six innings of work.

The roles were reversed in the second event, however. The Knights jumped out on top with a two-run bomb form Hannah Twilley in the first inning and added two more runs on single to right field in the second.

Emma Cornell doubled for Faulkner scoring a run in the third inning, but the visitors answered promptly with another two-run homer to dead center courtesy of Ashley Cavender.

Middle Georgia's four-hit, three-run sixth made things look a lot like a Game 1 carbon copy, but Hannahlee Harris slammed the pedal to the floor with a three-run, inside the park homer that same inning to keep Faulkner alive.

The spark was short-lived, however, as the Lady Eagles failed to deliver in the seventh.

Cornell was 3-for-3 with an RBI and Jessica Butterworth was 2-for-4 and scored in the night cap.

Hayden Strickland (9-5) gave up nine hits and six earned runs over five and a third innings in the loss. The sophomore had four strikeouts.

Taylor Griffith took over for the reminder and gave up just one hit and earned run.

The split moved Faulkner to 23-17 overall and 13-11 in the league. The Lady Eagles host Talladega for the final home series   of the season on Thursday. The doubleheader is set for 1 p.m.