MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Second-ranked Georgia Gwinnett (26-7) slipped by No. 1 Faulkner (33-3) 9-8 in today's doubleheader opener, but the Eagles gained heavy redemption with a 13-2 blasting of the Grizzlies in the final bout of the weekend.

The two teams combined for 31 hits in Game 1 with the visitors finding most of the gaps early on.

Faulkner trailed 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning where a five-run explosion weighted by a Reid Long two-RBI single and a two-run homer from Ryan Rosa propelled the contest into a dead heat.

Reese Cooley then catapulted the Eagles into a two-run lead with a home run in the fifth.

Georgia Gwinnett was offered the tying run on a balk in the eighth frame before Tony Salvaggio delivered what would be the game-winning sacrifice fly just moments later.

The Eagles stranded six runners in scoring position over the final three innings.

Tyler Tungate had a rough start for Faulkner giving up five earned runs on 10 hits over the first three innings of play.

Seven Eagle arms were in action in the outing, but the loss went to Evan Gillespie (2-1) who allowed two earned runs on three hits in late relief.

Both teams were quiet offensively in the second contest until Faulkner produced its second five-run frame of the day in the fourth where Long's triple and Rosa's double accounted for one and two runs, respectively.

Rosa delivered another two-RBI double in the following at-bat helping elevate Faulkner into a 9-2 advantage.

Cooley and Long continued the damage at the plate accounting for another RBI each in the sixth.

Alex DuBord (7-1) gave up a lone earned run on four hits he scattered over five innings in the win. The junior right-hander also had three strikeouts.

The Eagle bullpen was equally potent with Donte' Glover and Caleb DuRouen each firing two frames, respectively, to close out play. The slingers tallied two strikeouts each and Glover surrendered a hit.

Cooley was a devastating 6-for-7 with five RBIs and three runs on the day.

Rosa was 5-for-7, knocked in six runs and scored twice in the doubleheader while Luis Duran went 4-for-7 with three RBIs and two runs.

Long drove in four runs on three hits and scored.

Faulkner will next host Selma University at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.