GULF SHORES, Ala. - After a washout on Friday at the beach, Faulkner dropped a pair of one run contests Saturday to open the Gulf Coast Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala. to Oklahoma Wesleyan and Texas A&M-Texarkana.

OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN 6, FAULKNER 5

Faulkner could not have asked for a better way to the Gulf Coast Invitational over the first few innings but a late rally from the opposing Eagles handed Faulkner a walk-off loss to flip the ideal start on its head.

Annamarie Stooksbury's leadoff walk in the third set up Anna Catherine Segrest for an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Anna Purvis added another run to the lead in the fifth to cash in Chloe Davidson's leadoff double. Erika Mitchell drove in two more two batters later, scoring Gracie Pittman and Segrest to take a 4-0 lead.

Katelynn Inness had a stellar start hurling five scoreless innings to put the Lady Eagles in great position to pick up the win over the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference side. However, the wheels started to fall off in the sixth inning. With two on and one out, Hailey O'Brien replaced Inness in the circle to try to preserve the shutout but the acting home team scored three with two outs to pull to 4-3.

Segrest led the seventh with a single and scored on a Mitchell single to extend the lead temporarily. A one-out triple preceded a single to cut it to a 5-4 game. Julianna Thames entered the game with the tying run at the plate and coaxed a groundout to get the second out, but three straight singles from OKWU delivered the walkoff. 

Segrest had three singles and Mitchell a pair of hits. Mitchell ended with three RBIs. 

Inness went 5.1 and allowed just one earned run over four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. 

TEXAS A&M-TEXARKANA 5, FAULKNER 4

The Lady Eagles tried to pull out the uno reverse card and snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat against yet another Eagle team, but left the comeback-completing run on second after a frantic seventh inning in the nightcap. 

TAMUT got four across early, but Julianna Thames was excellent in relief, allowing just one hit and no earned runs over six innings out of the pen to allow the Lady Eagles a chance to get back in the game. 

Mitchell led off the sixth with a walk and eventually came home on an Ashtyn Pannell single to cut the lead to 4-1. The TAMUT Eagles got that run back in the top of the seventh on a two-out error to open the lead back to four. 

In the seventh, Segrest also drew a lead off walk and Anna Purvis followed with a single. Mitchell delivered a one-out single to plate Segrest. Sarah Williams's grounder caused some trouble for the TAMUT shortstop and allowed Purvis to score to make it 5-3 with the tying run aboard. A fielder's choice produced the second out and put runners on the corners. Pannell drove in Mitchell again to make it 5-4 and put Abby Terrell on second but the Lady Eagles could not get her closer as TAMUT coaxed a groundout. 

Terrell and Pannell each delivered two hits. 

The Lady Eagles will return for a Sunday afternoon game at 1:30 against No. 22 Southeastern. Read Full Article