LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Faulkner downed Ottawa University of Arizona 3-0 Monday afternoon to open its stretch in the Lawrenceville Bracket of the NAIA Baseball Opening Round. The Eagles soared on the right arm of starting pitcher
Marco Ozuna, who delivered a complete game shutout on only 108 pitches.
After cruising for the first six innings, Ozuna escaped trouble in the seventh and the eighth innings to keep the shutout intact. As the Spirit got runners in scoring position for the first time all day, a walk to Christian Powell loaded the bases. Ozuna responded by dropping the hammer on a breaking ball that induced a swinging strike three from Gabriel DeJesus to end the inning and preserve a 2-0 lead.
Ozuna issued a leadoff walk to Nicholas Lustig to open the eighth before coaxing a pair of flyball outs, the latter of which saw
Orlando Lorduy leap above the rightfield fence to bring back an apparent homerun ball to keep the game scoreless. Ozuna then struck out the next batter on three pitches to end the inning. The Eagle righthander later returned to the mound to breeze through the ninth and finish off the effort. The performance marked the first time in Ozuna's collegiate career that he completed more than seven innings of work. Ozuna (10-1) accomplished the feat Monday while striking out eight and allowing only three hits and four walks.
Ozuna's counterpart, Zach Hangas, prover effective for the Spirit over six and two-thirds innings of work. He struck out seven and surrendered five hits to go along with four walks. The Eagles chased him when they got an important insurance run in the bottom of the seventh due in large part to the effort of
Evan Gilliam. With two away in the frame, the Eagle centerfielder snuck down a bunt for a single. Gilliam then sprinted 270 feet to score on a Lorduy double down the leftfield line.
Faulkner opened the scoring in the first inning as
Juan Trinidad doubled and then scored on a two-bagger from
Christian Webb.
The score stayed 1-0 until the fourth when Webb worked a leadoff walk and gave way to courtesy runner
Tuane Cope, who moved to third on a
Francisco Soriano single.
Jack Brinkley's sacrifice fly to left drove in Cope to move the advantage to 2-0. The victory also marked the win No. 800 in the career of Faulkner head coach
Patrick McCarthy, who has now won 54 national tournament games at Faulkner.
Faulkner (36-15) is set to play Tuesday at 2 p.m. CDT against the winner of No. 1 seed Georgia Gwinnett and No. 5 seed Louisiana Christian.
