BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – The Saturday doubleheader against Blue Mountain Christian did not go the way Faulkner had hoped after a series-opening win Friday night. The Eagles dropped both ends of the twin bill to fall to 14-16 overall and 5-7 in Southern States Athletic Conference play.
The sweep gave Blue Mountain Christian its first series victory over Faulkner in program history.
BLUE MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN 6, FAULKNER 3
Faulkner opened the scoring in the top of the first inning of game one when
Drew Mackie singled home
Evan Gilliam. The lead proved short-lived as Austin Beech launched a grand slam in the home half of the frame to vault the Toppers in front.
The score remained 4-1 until the sixth when
Jorge Lucero ripped a two-run homer to narrow it to 4-3. However, Faulkner proved unable to get the shutdown inning in the home half of the frame as an error led to two Topper runs to set the final margin.
Jaxen Forrester (2-3) took the loss, striking out eight over five innings of work while allowing four earned runs.
Matthew Koch (3-1) got the win, fanning six over a complete game effort that saw him surrender three hits and three walks.
BLUE MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN 11, FAULKNER 5
Game two saw the Eagles fall behind 9-0 before they got off the deck offensively. BMC scored three in the first, four in the second and two in the fifth to build the lead.
Faulkner got on the board in the sixth when
Jose Vargas doubled in
Zakary Farris. The Eagles added a run in the eighth when
Kendall Reese scored on an error.
Farris drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to plate
Josh Smith before
Francisco Soriano singled in Reese and Gilliam for the final runs of the game.
Nicholas Graham (1-3) took the loss while Taylor Sipes (3-0) worked seven innings for the win.
Faulkner returns to action Friday with a doubleheader against Stillman.
