JACKSON, Tenn. – Faulkner got a complete game effort from
Mose Hayes Thursday as it beat Mobile 5-1 in the second Pool A game of the SSAC Baseball Championship. The second team All-SSAC pitcher threw 87 of his 112 pitches for strikes while fanning seven batters and scattering five hits while issuing no walks. The complete game was the first time in Hayes's baseball career he went the distance in a nine inning game. "It felt really good," Hayes said. "It was certainly a team effort and a team vibe. I think me and my pitching coach [Israel Fuentes] did a really good job early getting everything working and establishing all four pitches and they stuck throughout the game."
The Eagles opened the scoring in the second inning when
Christian Webb's sacrifice fly to right to plated
Juan Trinidad.
The lone Mobile run came as the result of a Cameron Brock solo homer in the second inning.
The 1-1 tie lasted until the sixth when Webb hit a solo homer to left for the 2-1 advantage. That mark remained until two out in the ninth when Eduarny Martinez launched a two-run shot. Trinidad then made it a back-to-back affair with a solo homer to move the lead to 5-1.
The result leaves Faulkner (34-15) at 1-1 in Pool A with a 1 p.m. Friday game against Loyola still in the offing. However, Blue Mountain Christian clinched the Pool A berth in the SSAC title game and an automatic bid into the NAIA National Championship Opening Round by virtue of having defeated both Faulkner and Loyola.
