MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Top-ranked Faulkner turned to the long ball belting four shots out of Harrison Field in this afternoon's 7-2 opening win against 17th-ranked Middle Georgia State, but the Eagles squandered a five-run lead in a nine-run, ninth-inning debacle in Game 2 of the Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader that ushered in a 10-6 victory and overall series win for the visitors.

The Knights (32-11, 13-5 SSAC) took an early lead on a sacrifice fly to left field in the first at-bat of the day, but John Price answered the brief deficit with a solo home run over the scoreboard in the bottom of the same inning to move things into a stalemate.

Deivy Palmeiro echoed the effect in the second inning going yard to right center field giving Faulkner (36-6, 12-3 SSAC) its first lead of the weekend.

Paolo Montezuma and Palmeiro then offered up a pair of sacrifice flies extending the home cushion to three runs in the fourth inning.

The Eagles returned to the long ball in the fifth when T.J. Condon crushed a two-run jack over the 16 foot wall in center field.

Middle Georgia loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, but reliever Kolby Green seated back-to-back batters before a fly out to left field shut down any hope of a Knight rally.

The home run fest continued for the Eagles in the bottom of the inning when Montezuma delivered a 405-footer beyond the wall in center field.

The visitors mustered a final run on a fielder's choice in the top of the seventh inning.

Tyler Tungate moved to 6-0 on the year after surrendering just one earned run and a single hit while booking a pair of strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings of work.

Braden Olive secured the final out of the fifth inning while Kolby Green tossed the final two frames and booked a pair of strikeouts while giving up an earned run on as many hits.

Condon ignited the scoreboard for the Eagles with a two-RBI double down the third base line in the first at-bat of the second game. 

Middle Georgia bit back, cutting the lead in half with a solo homer to right field in the top of the third, but Reid Long put a ball in the same spot in the bottom of the same inning, moving the home lead back to a pair of runs.

Price ripped an RBI double off the pitcher's leg in the seventh inning before scoring himself on a wild pitch.

Michael Darr capped Faulkner's scoring for the afternoon on a single in the eighth.

Then, it happened.

The ninth inning began in rather efficient fashion. The Faulkner defense, armed with a comfortable 6-1 advantage, secured two outs against the first two batters it faced before one of the wildest innings ever witnessed at Harrison Field began to unravel.

The Knights faced three Eagle pitchers and tallied four hits, had three batters hit by pitches, saw two walks and capitalized on two infield errors before the elusive final out was tallied. And in the wake of the fiasco, nine runs were scored.

"There's a thing about baseball," head coach Patrick McCarthy told his team after the game. "You can play great baseball and it come down to a third of an inning with two outs and nobody on base and the whole thing explode on you. It can happen at any level. It doesn't matter. You have one bad third of an inning and it can fall apart. Tonight you faced adversity. You haven't really faced a whole lot of adversity this year, but you did tonight. You have to learn from this. You have to learn to deal with adversity. If you do, we'll go places. Life is about what you do with adversity. Do you crumble and give in when it looks like there's no way out, or do you step up and face the situation head on and do what you have to do for your team, your family?"

Israel Fuentes scattered seven hits over the first seven innings and gave up a single earned run while fanning four batters.

Olive returned to the mound in Game 2 offering up late-game relief and allowed four earned runs on just two hits while tallying a strikeout in 1 2/3 innings of work.

Jonathan Wilkins (0-1) was credited with the loss after allowing two runs, one of which was earned, on one hit in the decisive ninth inning.

Austin Moreland finally locked down the much-needed out after surrendering three runs, none of them earned, on two hits.

Faulkner will next travel to No. 6 Tennessee Wesleyan for a nine-inning contest at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are 1-1 against each other this season.