COCHRAN, Ga. – Less than 24 hours after finishing a marathon of a doubleheader that included 18 innings over six hours, Faulkner softball managed a Saturday road split with No. 11 Middle Georgia State. The results marked the second time on the week the Lady Eagles split with MGA.
FAULKNER 4, MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE 3
Faulkner bookended the game with a pair of two-run innings, relying on a dramatic finish to upend the Knights 4-3 in game one of the day. The Lady Eagles got the first run of the day in the top of the first when
Ivey Hill doubled home
Chloe Davidson.
AnnaMarie Stooksbury followed with a single to plate
Erika Mitchell to make it 2-0.
The Knights evened the game in the second inning when Summer Lawrence scored on a passed ball and Emma Raulerson made it home on a wild pitch. Raulerson staked MGA to a 3-2 in the fourth when she launched a solo homer. The game stayed there until Hill authored a frenetic finale in the seventh.
Mitchell started the decisive sequence with a one-out walk before Hill ripped a two-run homer to vault the Lady Eagles to a 4-3 lead. The home half of the seventh saw Raulerson draw a walk before giving way to a pinch runner. Faulkner promptly got the runner hung up on a stolen bae attempt to get the first out of the frame. After Lauren Heath walked and gave way to pinch runner Addison Whaley, Hill induced a flyball to center for the second out. Christina Zeppa singled with two away before to extend the game. When Whaley attempted to go first to third on the play, rightfielder
Eavie Polk delivered a strike to Mitchell at third to halt the advance and end the game.
Hill (5-3) worked the complete game effort, striking out two and allowing three earned runs on the afternoon. The win marked the second of the week for Faulkner over the No. 11 team in the country.
MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE 8, FAULKNER 0 (5 innings)
Middle Georgia mashed early in game two of the series, putting Faulkner away early for an 8-0 run rule victory. Logan Blizzard singled in Raulerson to open the scoring in the first. Madisyn Riggins and Raulerson each doubled in a run in the third before Kaelyn Campbell singled in another to make it 4-0. Lawrence hit a homer in the fourth to make it 5-0 before Riggins blasted a three-run shot to cap the scoring.
Riggins not only drove in four runs in the game, but she also proved completely dominant in the circle. She pitched a five-inning no-hitter with no walks. The only Faulkner baserunners reached on errors. One of those was immediately erased on a double play ball.
Faulkner (23-16, 11-11 SSAC) returns to action Saturday, April 22 when it hosts William Carey.
