HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Faulkner kept its season alive Thursday on the strength of a nine-run first inning as it dispatched Brewton-Parker 13-6 in the SSAC Baseball Championship Tournament. The Eagles sent 14 batters to the plate in the opening frame while chasing the Barons' starter after only two outs.
Jorge Lucero started the scoring with a single that plated
Drew Mackie.
Zakary Farris drew a walk to drive in
Cristian Martin.
Trevor Torppa's bases-loaded hit-by-pitch got
Kendall Reese home for the 3-0 lead.
Josh Smith followed with a bases-loaded walk to move the advantage to 4-0.
Evan Gilliam turned his second at-bat of the first inning into a two-run single through the right side for the 6-0 lead. Mackie doubled home Smith before Vargas singled in another run for the 9-0 lead. Smith scored on an error in the third to move the margin to 10-0 before Brewton-Parker got off the deck. The Barons plated a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to cut it to 10-2.
Lucero produced a run in the sixth with a triple that scored Martin.
Jack Brinkley added one more Faulkner scoring play in the eighth as his single drove in
Hunter Dupuy and Reese.
Jaxen Forrester (5-4) got the win, going five innings and allowing two earned runs while fanning five.
Ford Hilyer and
Stephen Spurgeon covered the remainder of the contest for the Eagles.
Faulkner (13-34) looks to keep its season alive again Friday when it opens play at 9 a.m. against Talladega.
