EMERSON, Ga. -
Chance Denson and
Iroel Ruiz slammed the door on a scrappy Campbellsville team to claim a 7-4 win to start the Southeast Rumble hosted by Reinhardt at the LakePoint Sports Baseball Complex.
Faulkner jumped ahead with a four spot in the first with four runs on five hits sparked by a drawn walk from
Juan Trinidad and a triple from
Cristian Martin.
Drew Mackie,
Francisco Soriano,
Jack Brinkley and
C.J. Keckler found consecutive singles to take a 4-0 lead into the second. Martin added to the lead with an RBI groundout in the fourth after Gilliam drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, plating the center fielder who swiped second and third to get into scoring position to make it 5-0.
The Tigers roared back with a pair of runs in the fifth and one in the sixth with bases loaded and one out when Denson entered from the bullpen and coaxed two fly balls to escape with just one run scoring from a sacrifice fly and a 5-4 lead.
Denson struck out the first two batters and the fourth batter of the seventh to work around a walk in the seventh. Soriano and Brinkley recorded back-to-back hits as Brinkley double drove in the sixth run of the day in the bottom half.
Ruiz took over to start the eighth with a 6-4 lead and dodged trouble with a strikeout with the tying run on first.
Zakary Farris's leadoff pinch-hit single turned into a manufactured run to pad the lead in the bottom of the eighth. With the tying run at the plate, Ruiz got another flyball to center to end the game and earn his first save of the season.
Faulkner takes on Reinhardt on the road Sunday evening at 4 p.m. central in a rematch of the NAIA Opening Round Championship game last season.
