MONTGOMERY, Ala. – For the first time in three years, No. 6 Faulkner (4-1) welcomed Shawnee State to the friendly confines of Harrison Field Saturday. The Eagles got a dominant pitching performance from Antonio Frias (SR/Panama City, Panama) in game one and consistent offense throughout the doubleheader for a pair of victories.

FAULKNER 15, SHAWNEE STATE 5

The Eagles scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jonathan Villa (SR/Ensenada, Mexico) stroked the first of three straight doubles to ignite the rally. Hagen Holmstead (SR/Salt Lake City, Utah) and Isaac Phillips (JR/Powder Springs, Ga.) followed suit before Mario Moralez Jr. (JR/Houston, Texas) drew a walk to load the bases. The double from Phillips scored courtesy runner Justin Lara (SR/Coconut Creek, Fla.) for the 1-0 lead. Shawn Ross (JR/Fajada, Puerto Rico) drew a hit-by-pitch to force in the second run of the contest as Holmstead crossed the plate. John Michael Mathews (SR/Birmingham, Ala.) then made the most of his first at-bat of the season when he ripped a bases-clearing triple to deep center for the 5-0 advantage.

That outburst proved more than enough to back the efforts of Frias. After striking out the side in the first inning, Frias (2-0) faced the minimum in the second and third frames. He worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth and faced the minimum again in the fifth.

The senior finished his day with 10 strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings of no-hit baseball. The Eagles took the game via the run rule but both teams agreed to continue play as Shawnee State continued to shake off the dust of the offseason.

Faulkner continued its support of Frias in the third when Mathews drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on an Eriq White (SR/Snellville, Ga.) single and scored on a pitch in the dirt that skipped to the backstop.

The Eagles added six more runs in the fourth inning to blow the game open. Villa opened the inning with a single before Holmstead laced a base hit to left. Phillips dropped down a squeeze bunt to load the bases before Moralez Jr. plated a pair of runners with a single to right-center. Ross followed with a first-pitch, three-run homer to left. White later walked and scored when Lara drew a bases-loaded walk.

The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth when Tommy Reyes-Cruz (JR/Quebec, British Columbia) singled before scored on an error. Mathews reached base on an error and scored on a Lara single to make it 14-0 in favor of Faulkner. The Eagles notched one more run in the sixth when Mike Battle (SR/Birmingham, Ala.) walked and scored on a Reyes-Cruz sacrifice fly.

FAULKNER 8, SHAWNEE STATE 4

Ben Sellers homered on the fourth pitch of the second game to give the Bears their first lead of the season. The advantage proved short-lived as Faulkner posted a five-run first for the second time in the series.

Villa drew a leadoff walk and gave way to Lara as a courtesy runner. Holmstead followed with a walk of his own before Phillips dropped down a sacrifice bunt. Moralez Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Lara and tie the game. Holmstead then came in on a throwing error to put the Eagles up 2-1.

Ross doubled and later scored on a White single for the 3-1 lead. Mathews then singled ahead of Sam Anthony (SR/Columbus, Ga.)'s two-RBI base knock to move the lead to 5-1.

Faulkner drew back-to-back walks to open the second inning before Lara and Holmstead pulled off a double steal. Phillips then ripped a sacrifice fly to deep right to drive in both runners.

The Bears got back in it in the top of the third when Jacob Kline's fielder's choice plated Cameron Reaman and LevI Jones singled to right-center to drive in Sellers to cut it to 7-3. Anthony singled and scored in the home half of the third for the final Eagle run of the day.  Shawnee added one more run as Damion Coleman scored on a George Duran hit-by-pitch.

Aubrey Davis (JR/Hull, Ga.) (2-0) notched the victory for Faulkner, striking out three over four innings of work while Willy Tavareas and Ford Hilyer (FR/Montgomery, Ala.) combined to allow one run in three innings of relief.

The teams resume the series Sunday when they play a doubleheader beginning at noon.