TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Faulkner scored early and often to complete the sweep over Stillman Saturday afternoon in the SSAC opening road series with a 21-5 victory over the Tigers to start 3-0 in SSAC play for the first time since 2019.
The Eagles scored multiple runs in each of the first five innings before hurrying to the finish line.
Juan Trinidad led off with a single before scoring on a wild pitch to open the game.
Evan Gilliam drove in
Jorge Lucero who replaced
Jose Vargas on the basepaths after reaching on said wild pitch to make it 2-0.
Faulkner got two more in the second from a Trinidad double and a Lorduy single, but the Tigers scored three runs after an error prolonged the bottom of the second to make things interesting. However, the Eagles squashed any hopes of the upset when
Zakary Farris's double started a four run rally in the third propped by a two-run error. The Tigers got a couple more back but the Faulkner lead was too much.
The Eagles blew the doors off with an eight run fourth inning to inflate the lead to 16-5 with six hits and then added five more on just three hits with two doubles to set the final score.
Alexis Saldana allowed just three earned runs and three hits but missed out on the starter inning requirement for the win.
Hunter Dupuy picked up the victory with a pair of strikeouts over two innings, facing just one over the minimum.
Jordan Destefano pitched two innings to close it out and also allowed just one over the minimum.
Four Eagles–Trinidad, Farris, Gilliam and
Tuane Cope– all had three hits with Trinidad and Cope going 3-3 from the dish. Trinidad ended with two doubles and four RBIs. Cope went 3-3 and drew a pair of walks. Farris also had a pair of doubles.
Orlando Lorduy also had a pair of hits.
All-in-all, the Eagles hit eight extra base hits for a team OPS of 1.510 and stole eight bases.
Faulkner welcomes Brewton-Parker to Harrison Field Friday Feb. 23 to start its next conference series. The single game is slated for 6 p.m.
