BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. - Armed with a confidence boost after earning a split with seventh-ranked Mobile at home last week, Faulkner was looking to bolster its Southern States Athletic Conference record with a pair of key wins against Blue Mountain on Friday. A few timely home runs ultimately made the difference in both ball games, however, as the Toppers went on to clip the Lady Eagles 9-8 in nine innings and 6-5 in 10 innings to earn the series sweep.

The teams traded heavy-handed opening-inning performances to start the afternoon. Faulkner (15-11/3-3 SSAC) was methodical in its approach tallying five runs on as many hits and a pair of walks. The Lady Eagles went through the entire order in their first trip to the plate and looked exceptional out of the gate. 

Blue Mountain (13-17/4-5 SSAC) responded immediately, however. Play looked similar on the flip side as the Toppers began filling bases and scoring some runs, but the tide shifted when Sabrina Green emptied the bags with a grand slam to left-center field to take the 6-5 lead after just an inning of play.

Faulkner tied the game in the second inning and then resumed control of the lead in the fourth on Topper error in each.

The home team then capitalized on an infield error in the sixth inning, putting the contest back onto even footing.

Faulkner opened the seventh inning with three consecutive hits and soon inched itself into an 8-7 lead forcing Blue Mountain into a corner. 

Once again the Toppers found a solution with a run on a two-hit effort cushioned by an infield error to send the game into extended innings.

The home team went on to score the winning run in the bottom of the two-hit ninth.

Jessica Butterworth and Sophie Slemp worked in tandem to generate Faulkner's first two runs in Game 2. Butterworth reached base on a double in the first inning and Slemp drove her in with a single just minutes later. Butterworth then reached base on a walk in the third and later scored on a Slemp double.

The Toppers mustered a run that same inning, but Faulkner was back at it in the third. The Lady Eagles soon found themselves armed with a bases-loaded, no-out situation. Butterworth knocked in a run with a single to center field, but solid defensive work by Blue Mountain prevented any further damage.

An Ashlee Pierce homer in the bottom of the fifth inning shaved another run of the deficit for the Toppers, but the visitors were back at it in the top of the sixth as Butterworth continued churning the statistics with another RBI single.

Miah Edmonds' two-run bomb in the bottom of the sixth moved the event into a 4-4 tie, however, and it wasn't until the 10th inning that the stalemate was resolved.

A bases-loaded walk gave Faulkner a temporary lead, but a walk-off two-RBI double clinched the win and sweep for Blue Mountain.

Hayden Strickland gave up eight hits and six earned runs through the first six innings of the opener before Emma Cornell took over in the circle. Cornell (6-1) allowed two earned runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings of work and suffered her first loss of the season.

Caitlin Perry (6-5) pitched all 9 1/3 innings and tallied 10 strikeouts while allowing just eight hits in the second loss. All six runs were earned.

Butterworth was brilliant offensively for Faulkner going 6-for-9 with four runs and a pair of RBIs in the series. 

Slemp drove in four runs on two hits and scored twice while Hannahlee Harris produced four hits and scored twice on the afternoon.

Holli Brooks, Hannah Qualls and Amanda Seales each had two hits in the opener. Brooks added two runs and an RBI and Qualls booked one of each. Seales scored once in each game.

Faulkner travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., on Saturday for another SSAC showdown, this time with No. 8 William Carey. The doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m.