MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner claimed a seesaw win in game two in one of the most exciting games of the season 12-10 over No. 16 William Carey to level the SSAC Series of the Week at Harrison Field Thursday night after dropping game one 9-5.

WILLIAM CAREY 9, FAULKNER 5

The Eagles missed opportunities to rally after a tough break in the first inning saw the Crusaders score six before the hosts grabbed the bats. Faulkner had William Carey with two strikes and two outs in the first when a Bailee Hendon homer scored three. A couple of batters later Rigoberto Hernandez replicated it to jump to a 6-0 lead. 

C.J. Keckler's solo shot in the second cut the deficit to five. Jose Vargas drew a bases loaded walk in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-2, however the Eagles could not bring in another as the hosts could not find hits with bases loaded for the third different inning in the game. 

The Crusaders scratched across two more in the sixth before a nearly three hour lightning delay halted proceedings with the visitors leading 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth. After resumption, William Carey added another run in the seventh. 

Evan Gilliam drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh to start making things interesting when Drew Mackie's double scored two more but the rally stopped there as the Crusaders took game one.

FAULKNER 12, WILLIAM CAREY 10

In one of the best baseball games of the season at any level, Faulkner came out on top as the bullpen combination of Nicholas Graham and Iroel Ruiz delivered an electric performance combining for 11 strikeouts over the final four innings to set the stage for Cristian Martin's two-RBI double in the eighth inning to win the game. 

Patrick Lee opened the game with a solo shot in the first to put the Crusaders ahead early, but the lead flipped on a Vargas bases-loaded double to right field to cash in a pair of walks. The Eagles turned a pair of errors into two more runs as Martin came home from third off a fielding error by the first baseman, reading the drop perfectly. Keckler's sacrifice fly scored Vargas and put Faulkner ahead 4-1. 

The teams traded runs in the second as Francisco Soriano drove home Mackie to capitalize on another walk to make it 5-2. A third inning run from the Crusaders cut the lead to two before a five run fourth inning put William Carey ahead 8-5.

Zakary Farris drew a bases loaded walk in the fifth ahead of Trevor Torppa's single off the pitcher scored Jorge Lucero to cut the deficit to one. Josh Smith scored the next at bat off a balk to level the score at 8-8. Bailee Hendon notched William Carey ahead 9-8, scoring on a wild pitch in the sixth. 

The lead changed again with Farris launching a two-run homer to right in the bottom of the seventh to cash in a Vargas single as well to take a 10-9 lead. That lead was also short lived as Hendon launched a homer to right to tie it in the eighth. The home run was the only interruption in a run of seven strikeouts over consecutive eight batters by Graham, striking out the side in the seventh.

In the bottom of the eighth, Gilliam was hit by the first pitch and advanced to third after a wild pitch and a Mackie single. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Martin, the left fielder, laced a double to right center to drive in his outfield partners and take a 12-10 lead. 

Iroel Ruiz entered to close the game and struck out the first batter before a double to left center brought the tying run to the plate and the top of the lineup up to the plate. R.J. Stinson and Lee had combined for nearly 90 RBIs this season, but Ruiz was unphased, striking both of the big bats out to pick up the save. 

Graham (2-3) picked up the win striking out eight over three and allowing just one run and two hits. Martin and Vargas each went 3-5 with two RBIs. Mackie turned three walks and a hit into three runs. 

The Eagles and Crusaders play for the series Friday at 1 p.m. Read Full Article