MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner sits atop the SSAC standings two weeks into league play after splitting Saturday's doubleheader against Brewton-Parker to win the series.
FAULKNER 17, BREWTON-PARKER 7
A 10 run fourth flipped the game on its head and catapulted Faulkner to the series win. Trailing 4-3 in the fourth,
Jorge Lucero led it off with a single,
Juan Trinidad followed with a walk and
Orlando Lorduy loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth to chase Brewton-Parker starter Ty Cook. The new pitcher plunked the next two batters,
Johnny Lopez and
Wesley Estrella to tie the game and then put the Eagles in the lead. Eduarny Martinez followed with an RBI walk and
Zakary Farris's fielder's choice plated the seventh run. A wild pitch scored another run ahead of a two run shot from
Jose Vargas to take a 10-4 lead.
Johnny Lopez drove in three more with a bases-clearing double to seal the 10 run frame and take a 13-4 lead.
After the Barons scored three in the second and Martinez answered with a home run to right center in his first Faulkner at bat to cut the deficit to two.
Evan Gilliam tied it one inning later with a two-RBI double to left center. An error plated a Barons run in the top of the fourth.
Trinidad's grand slam in the fifth put the cherry on top.
The fourth inning outburst propped up a seven strikeout over four inning performance from
Nicholas Graham to pick up the win on the hill.
Lopez and Gilliam ended the game with three hits each.Trinidad, Martinez and Lucero had two each.
BREWTON-PARKER 4, FAULKNER 1
The Eagles fell behind early and the bats could not get going in the final game of the series as the Barons took the final game.
Faulkner's game three starter of the series
Alexis Saldana struggled from the jump as he tried to work through an injury he had to be lifted from the game for but put three runners aboard.
Mose Hayes scuffled in the first inning in his Faulkner debut amidst back-to-back balks but got a pair of punchouts to get out of the inning.
From that point, Hayes was simply incredible. The Alaskan pitcher allowed just three hits and put up five straight scoreless innings while totaling eight strikeouts to give the Eagles a chance.
However, the Eagles could not get things going off of Brandon Russell's career night for the Barons. Russell carried a shutout into the eighth and had only allowed a handful of base runners his entire outing.
Jack Brinkley's pinch hit double started the eighth before
Johnny Lopez's single brought him home. During Eduarny Martinez's at bat, Faulkner appeared to have pulled off the double steal to get two in scoring position but the runners were sent back due to interference before he struck out on the next pitch after a lengthy argument.
Eight of the 16 strikeouts from the Faulkner bats were called looking.
Faulkner still sits a game ahead of the rest of the league after the first two weekends of SSAC play.
The Eagles welcome conference opponent Mobile on Tuesday afternoon in a nonconference doubleheader at 1 p.m.
