MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner rode a pair of home runs and solid pitching from Christian Torres to claim a 4-2 victory in the first game of a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader here Saturday afternoon, but Bethel used a five-run inning and scored four unearned runs to capture the nightcap 6-1, handing the Eagles their first league loss.

Faulkner, which won two of the three games in the series, is 28-6 overall and 11-1 in the SSAC, while Bethel is 18-9 and 4-5 in the conference.

In the seven-inning Game 1, Morton's two-run blast in the second followed Dario Polanco's single to give Faulkner a 2-0 lead. Bethel's Sam Seaton cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth with a solo homer. It was just the third hit off of Torres, who struck out the next two batters to limit the damage.

The Eagles got the run right back in their half of the inning, with David Palenzuela's long homer to right extending the advantage to 3-1. Zachary Crocker's two-out double cut the margin to 3-2, chasing Torres. Victor Arche entered to face Colton Kails, who drew a walk to put runners on first and second. McCarthy then turned to Austin Moreland and the big right-hander coaxed a fly ball from Seaton to end the inning.

Onix Martinez singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and made it all the way to third on a misplay by centerfielder Gadier Charriez. He then scored on Darrius Jennings' infield groundout, providing the Eagles with an insurance run and a 4-2 lead headed to the final inning.

Moreland gave up a lone single in the seventh, recording his fifth save. Torres went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out five to improve to 6-1. Trevor Bishop took the loss for the Wildcats, falling to 2-2 on the season.

Palanzuela and Martinez each had a pair of hits in the first-game victory.

In the nightcap, Bethel took advantage of a three-base error on Faulkner rightfielder Nick Cain in the top of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. Christian Padin's fly ball bounded off of Cain's glove, allowing Kendal Adkisson to score all the way from first base. The Wildcats added to their lead in the fourth, with Chase Howell and Adkisson both adding RBI singles to extend the lead to 3-0. Caleb Brewer's slow grounder was then misplayed by Eagle pitcher Ivan Pelaez, allowing another run to score as the advantage grew to 4-0. Padin's two-run single made it 6-0, with four of Bethel's scores coming by way of miscues.

Morton's second homer of the day got Faulkner on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but the Eagles failed to score the rest of the way. The five runs scored in the fourth for the Wildcats were the second most allowed in an inning by Faulkner all season. Bethel out hit the Eagles in the second game 12-5. Alex Cruz (1-0) went 8.1 innings, allowing the three hits and striking out six while walking seven. Pelaez (4-1) took the loss, going seven innings and allowing the six runs on 10 hits.

Morton added a double in the game, and was the only Eagle with multiple hits.