GULF SHORES, Ala. - Faulkner rebounded after a tough game one loss to Avila 2-0 with a solid 7-3 victory over Xavier Saturday at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex in day two of the Gulf Shores Invitational.

AVILA 2, FAULKNER 0

Hits came but did not link together for the Lady Eagles Saturday morning, stranding 11 runners in the shutout loss.  Faulkner made good contact with runners in position, but could not find a way to scratch across the runners. Late in the contest, the Lady Eagles got out of a bases loaded jam to limit the deficit to two, but the seventh inning came up empty despite putting two on. 

The sixth inning proved the most exciting for the Faulkner offense as Ivey Hill found the gap in right center and legged out a one-out triple, but could not find passage to the plate. 

Six hits came from six different players and only one inning featured multiple knocks.
 
Katelynn Inness fanned seven in the loss. 

FAULKNER 7, XAVIER 3

The Lady Eagles changed fields and linked together hits to back another strong game in the circle from Meagan Schwieterman. 

Caity Jo Lee's first inning hit to short took a funky hop as the shortstop missed the ball and put her on board. Tara Ammons ripped the ball down the right field line and Lee scurried home to score the first. 

A trio of errors in the second plated the tying run from the Gold Nuggets in the top of the second, but Schwieterman got the third strikeout swinging to strand two.
 
Lee and Ammons combined to score the equalizer in the third after the Faulkner second baseman ripped a double into left center and the first baseman singled to second before the ball was bobbled, allowing Lee to score again.

XULA took the lead right back in the fourth before Markie Hicks responded in the home half with a double down the left field line to score Madison McKee and level the game back out. 

Erika Mitchell plated the eventual winning run in Lee before McKee ripped a triple of her own to score Ammons. 

Ammons added two more insurance runs in the sixth with a single that scored Brianna Cagle and Kaileigh Harrison who drew back-to-back walks. 

Of its eight hits, Faulkner tallied three extra-base hits on the afternoon. Ammons ended 3-3 with three RBIs, Lee went 2-3 with three runs and McKee went 2-3 as well. Harrison drew two walks.

Schwieterman went the distance allowing just one earned over seven with five strikeouts. It was just the third earned run allowed over 31.2 innings this season for an incredible .66 era, ranking her in the top-20 in the NAIA. 

Faulkner closes out the Gulf Coast Invitational Sunday with a couple more games, facing Thomas at 11:15 a.m. and William Woods at 1:30 p.m.  Read Full Article