MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Eagles just keep finding ways. Down 5-4 in the eighth, Faulkner manufactured a run to tie it before Juan Trinidad's RBI single gave the Eagles the lead in the ninth and Jordan Destefano closed the door to seal a 6-5 win at Middle Georgia Friday afternoon and take another step closer towards the SSAC regular season title.

The decisive moment came with one out in the ninth and was started by a drawn walk from Evan Gilliam. Orlando Lorduy followed with a single and the two pulled off a double steal to put two in scoring position for Trinidad who delivered his 50th RBI of the season through the left side of the infield. 

Destefano earned his sixth save of the season working an unconventional three-up, three-down with a double play ball after striking out the first batter. 

Similar to the ninth, in the eighth, Christian Webb drew a walk to lead off the frame and let Tuane Cope take the bases as a courtesy runner. Cope advanced on an Eduarny Martinez flyout to get to second ahead of a balk putting the tying run on third. Francisco Soriano drove in Cope to tie it with a groundout to first. 

Faulkner got ahead first in the game with a two run homer from Eduarny Martinez in the second and the Knights got one back in the third. Martinez scored on a Jorge Lucero sac bunt to take a 3-1 lead in the fourth, but the wheels started to come off for the Eagles in the bottom half. 

Despite a strong first few innings from Nicholas Graham, the Knights got to the Faulkner starter with four hits and a hit by pitch to tie the game at three and put two on. Patrick McCarthy turned to Hunter Dupuy who shook off a walk on his first two batters to surrender the lead, but coaxed a groundout to get out with no further damage. 

The MGA lead was short lived as Evan Gilliam led off the fifth with his first home run of the year to tie it back at 4-4. The Knights pulled back ahead in the sixth, capitalizing on a dropped third strike putout.

Dupuy got the win with the longest outing of his career, hurling 88 pitches and striking out seven and allowing no earned runs over 4.1 innings. 

Martinez and Soriano each finished with multiple hits.

In the SSAC standings, Faulkner maintains its three game lead over Loyola in the loss column as the Wolf Pack took both games at UT Southern Friday, but gained a game over William Carey who was run ruled by Blue Mountain in the one game in Hattiesburg. Following the results with a pair of wins or one win and a Loyola loss, Faulkner will claim at least a share of the SSAC Regular Season Championship and will earn the one seed as the Eagles hold the tiebreaker. 

The Eagles take the field for a doubleheader in Cochran at noon central to conclude its final SSAC road series.  Read Full Article