BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – Faulkner softball opened its SSAC schedule Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Blue Mountain Christian. The Lady Eagles delivered a pair of double-digit hit performances while getting two complete game victories from their pitching staff.
FAULKNER 6, BLUE MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN 3
A four-run rally in the sixth lifted Faulkner to a 6-3 victory in its SSAC opener. After Julianna Ingram singled home two in the first to put the Toppers up 2-0, the Lady Eagles got on the board in the fourth.
Sarah Williams singled to right to drive in
Eavie Polk to cut the deficit in half.
BMC made it 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Mallory Jo Mitchell dropped down a bunt single to plate Bre Ramsey and put the home team up 3-1. Faulkner scrapped for a run in the fifth when
Anna Catherine Segrest singled to right and advanced on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly moved her to third and an error allowed her to make it home, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
The Lady Eagles found their swing in the sixth when Williams opened the frame with a single and gave way to pinch-runner
Ashtyn Pannell. Abbey Terrell then dropped down a bunt single to set up the potential for a crooked number. Both runners moved up on a grounder by
Kelbi Johnson before
Campbell Hecklinski singled to short to plate Pannell and tie the game.
Chloe Davidson followed with a bunt single to drive in Terrell for the 4-3 lead. Segrest then knocked the through the left side for a single.
Addyson Jarman capitalized with a two-run hit up the middle for the 6-3 lead.
Reece Patterson made the effort count in the seventh when she worked around a two-out single to nail down the victory. Patterson (2-0) scattered seven hits and three walks while allowing three earned runs over seven innings of work for the complete-game win.
The Lady Eagles recorded 14 hits in the game with Terrell notching three to lead the way. Davidson, Segrest, Jarman and Williams had two apiece while Pittman, Hecklinski and
Madelyn Becker had one apiece.
FAULKNER 4, BLUE MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN 2
The Lady Eagles again made the most of a four-run inning to complete the doubleheader sweep Saturday evening. Despite notching and impressive 12 hits in the contest, Faulkner got all of its scoring done in the top of the fourth inning.
Blue Mountain Christian took a 2-0 lead in the third as a pair of sacrifice flies accounted for the scoring. The Lady Eagles responded by denying BMC the shutdown inning while hanging four runs on the board.
Johnson opened the frame with a double and stole third.
Allie Wismer then doubled to left and plated Johnson to cut it to 2-1. Polk followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners. Davidson's grounder to first drove in Wismer to tie the game. After an infield single from Segrest, Jarman delivered the biggest swing of the game when she doubled to right-center to drive in two and put Faulkner up 4-2.
With all of the game's scoring coming in that six-out stretch, the burden fell to
Hailey O'Brien to get the Lady Eagles to the bus unblemished in SSAC play. The sophomore delivered in a big way. She surrendered a pair of singles in the fourth inning but fanned a pair of batters to leave the runners stranded. She worked around a single in the fifth to keep the game 4-2 and then proved unfazed by a walk in the sixth.
Things got tight in the seventh as a bunt single and a hit-by-pitch put two aboard with only one out. After inducing a pop-up, O'Brien got the next batter to hit one on the infield, but an error on the play extended the game. With the bases loaded and hugging a two-run lead, O'Brien found the gear she needed to end the game on a swinging strikeout.
O'Brien (2-0) struck out 10 batters over seven innings of work while scattering six hits and three walks with just one earned run allowed. Faulkner notched 26 hits across the two-game set with Segrest, Williams, Johnson and Polk each getting a pair of safeties in the nightcap.
Faulkner (4-0, 2-0 SSAC) continues SSAC play Sunday at 1 p.m. when it plays in Pulaski, Tenn. against Tennessee Southern.
