TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Faulkner took both games from hosts Stillman Friday in the first SSAC meeting in Tuscaloosa between the teams taking game one 12-4 and game two 11-1.

FAULKNER 12, STILLMAN 4

The Eagles hung crooked numbers every inning against the Tigers, drawing 12 walks in the contest. Sammy de la Cruz scored on a wild pitch starting the first inning to take an early lead. However, the Tigers snapped July Sosa's impressive run of 31 innings scoreless innings, earned or unearned, with a couple of hits in the bottom of the first to tie the game. The last run to score against Sosa was a fourth inning homer by Indiana Wesleyan. The righty did not allow a run the entire month of March.

Jack Brinkley drove in the eventual game winning run in the second with a single to plate Evan Gilliam. The center fielder delivered an RBI of his own with a grounder to score Ben Hargis before Tommy Reyes-Cruz's sacrifice fly scored Justice Lucas. Juan Trinidad and Hargis combined to score the third baseman on a delayed double steal in the fourth before Reyes-Cruz turned in another sac fly. Alex Arauz brought more separation in the fifth with a two-RBI double as Stan Ott scored as the courtesy runner the next at-bat. Trinidad found a two-RBI hit himself in the sixth before the final run scored the same as the first – a wild pitch. Tyberius Correa closed the door with two strikeouts to end the game in the seventh, working around a leadoff double. 

Sosa struck out nine over five in the win while allowing just the one run. Correa fanned four over two. Brinkley totaled two hits. 

FAULKNER 11, STILLMAN 1 (7 Inn.)

J.C. Toro turned in another electric start in a run-rule victory, taming the Tigers with a career-high 12 strikeouts and going 6.2 innings without surrendering a run as Faulkner claimed a series win over their in-state foe. His performance on the hill was coupled with a powerful display from the plate with three homers and three doubles in the seven-inning contest.

Shawn Ross and Arauz put on a show, combining for seven RBIs on four hits. The backstop scored the shortstop with his second double of the day in the first and then doubled the lead with a third inning single to score de la Cruz. Trinidad received a free pass home on a balk immediately after. Ross hit a solo shot in the fifth and Jordan Funk did the same in the sixth. 

Funk's shot started a five-run inning to push the game well out of reach. Kevin Saenz followed with a single and Brinkley tied in a double. Saenz scored on a passed ball and de la Cruz drove in Brinkley later in the at-bat. Ross brought de la Cruz in with his eighth home run of the year to push it to a 9-0 advantage. Ross ended the game with three runs scored and four RBIs. 

Saenz doubled to lead off the seventh before four of the next five batters either walked or were hit by a pitch to score two more runs that put the game into run-rule territory. A two-out triple broke the shutout. 

Saenz went three for four with two runs scored. Ross, de la Cruz, Arauz and Funk all totaled two hits in the game. Brinkley and de la Cruz both scored twice as well.

Faulkner goes for the sweep Saturday at 1 p.m., an hour before originally scheduled to try to beat the weather.  Read Full Article