A marquee matchup of Top 5 teams did not disappoint Friday as No. 2 Freed-Hardeman and No. 4 Faulkner split a doubleheader in drastically different contests. 

FREED-HARDEMAN 5, FAULKNER 3

Israel Fuentes (JR/Chino Hills, Calif.) saw his first action since his 2017 All-American season and proved formidable for most of his outing in a 5-3 loss to Freed-Hardeman. Fuentes scattered two hits and a walk over his first four innings of work before a James Dodd single with one away in the fifth set up Christian Busby's two-run homer to put the Lions up 2-0. Bryce Lester later singled and scored on a Collin McPherson double to leave FHU up 3-0. 

Faulkner got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Jonathan Villa (JR/Ensenada, Mexico) doubled to right and gave way to courtesy runner DeJhard Kimbrough (JR/Atlanta, Ga.). Max Guzman (JR/Miami, Fla.) later singled home Kimbrough to narrow the deficit to 3-1. Freed got the run back in the seventh when De'Mikyle Holmes sored on a McPherson single to put the Lions up 4-1. 

The Eagles appeared to get back in to the game in the bottom of the seventh when Te'kwaan Whyte (SR/Stone Mountain, Ga.) hit a sacrifice fly to plate Troy Black (SO/Dayton, Ohio) before Jacob Freeland (SR/Cape Coral, Fla.) followed suit with one of his own to score John Michael Matthews (JR/Birmingham, Ala.) and leave Faulkner down just 4-3. The Lions added an insurance run in the eighth when Busby singled home Dom Pisano.

The Eagles stranded 14 base runners in the contest, wasting the bulk of the nine hits they produced. 

Tyson Campbell (1-0) notched the win for Freed, striking out seven and scattering seven hits over five and two-thirds innings of work. Fuentes (0-1) took the first loss of his career, fanning four over four and a third. Landon Sewell (1) got the save with two scoreless innings of relief. 

FAULKNER 12, FREED-HARDEMAN 4

The Eagle offense played a decidedly different game in the nightcap, jumping on the Lions early and often en route to a 12-4 romp. Faulkner tallied eight stolen bases in the game, putting relentless pressure on the Freed-Hardeman pitching staff. 

Sam Anthony (JR/Columbus, Ga.) started the Eagle half of the first inning with a single before later stealing third and scoring on a throwing error. Kimbrough came in as a courtesy runner following a Guzman double. The fleet-footed Atlanta native later scored on a throwing error during a steal attempt by Black. Andrew Carter (SR/San Jose, Calif.) singled home Black before himself scoring on a Tyler Paulsen (JR/Jolliet, Ill.) single to put Faulkner up 4-0 after one inning of play. 

The Eagles scored another run in the second when Whyte singled and stole two bases before scoring on Black's single for the 5-0 advantage. 

Freed got back into the game briefly in the fourth inning when McPherson hit a two-run shot that also drove in Josh Sears. Collin Baber scored on a Cam Palmeter sacrifice fly to cut it to 5-3. 

Faulkner ran the lead up to 8-3 in the home half of the fourth. Guzman singled home Anthony. Trystin Raikes (JR/Ottawa, Ill.) drove in Kimbrough with a sacrifice fly to left before Carter doubled in Black to cap the scoring in the frame. 

The Eagles put the game out of reach in the fifth when Bo McClintock (JR/Beaver Creek, Ore.) scored on a passed ball before Guzman ripped a three-run shot to drive in Myron Mebane (SR/Tallahassee, Fla.) and Jacob Freeland. 

Freed-Hardeman got one more run in the seventh when Robert Zamora singled home Will Mcall. 

Jacob Hulcher (SR/Montgomery, Ala.) (1-0) fanned three batters over six innings while scattering four hits and three earned runs. Jacob Sawyers took the loss, allowing four earned runs in three innings of work. 

The teams resume play Saturday at noon with another doubleheader to cap the series.