MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Up four. Two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Nobody on. One out from Lewiston. A situation that for 264 days has left a bad taste in the mouths of the Faulkner Eagles who aim to return to the Pacific Northwest in late May for the first time since 2022. Now just hours from first pitch, the Eagles have a chance to once again prove themselves as one of the nation's elite programs. 

"I think the returners have a bitter taste in their mouth because of the way we ended the season," Head Coach Patrick McCarthy said. "They were so close and I think having a four run lead in the ninth with two outs and nobody on, I don't think you can have a worse way to end your season but it can motivate the guys to play better next year. I've only had one season end worse and that was losing on the last play of the national championship game. What a challenge it is to the returning guys." 

Faulkner returns 16 contributors from the 2024 SSAC regular season champions and has a slew of newcomers that look to add key depth throughout McCarthy's 16th roster as the skipper of the program. 

Among those key returning bats are last season's first team All-SSAC shortstop Juan Trinidad and outfielder Orlando Lorduy. Trinidad enters his fourth season as an Eagle with a .321 career batting average and .423 on base percentage and a .944 fielding. Lorduy slugged .524 last season with 16 doubles and six home runs for a .927 OPS and had four outfield assists in right and spent some time in the fall as a two-sport athlete competing on the men's soccer team. 

Two more of last season's everyday batters, Eduarny Martinez and Christian Webb are back. Martinez had extra bases on 51.3 percent of his hits last season for a team best 1.040 OPS. Webb was the primary catcher last season and carried a .991 fielding percentage and a .264 average. 

A familiar face and a constant reliable force in the lineup is also back for his fourth season in Jack Brinkley. Brinkley has appeared in 131 contests and has 97 starts and a .408 on base percentage. 

Other depth bats from last season looking to make an impact again this season include Kendall Reese and Sebastien Nelson. Reese averages .400 over his career from the plate and Nelson carries a perfect fielding percentage as an Eagle.

Faulkner returns 60.4 percent of innings worked last season on the mound including weekend rotation standouts Marco Ozuna Jr. and Mose Hayes. Ozuna earned first team all-SSAC honors after striking out 84 over 78.2 innings and allowing opponents just a .263 batting average against for 10 wins. Hayes placed second team after a 7-1 record last season with a .244 average against over 70.1 innings. 

Bullpen arms include last season's save leader Jordan Destefano who picked up six of the team's 12 with 28 strikeouts over 29.1 innings. Evan Valencia allowed just 16 hits in 24 innings out of the pen last season. Ty Correa has pitched 95.2 innings for the Eagles entering his fifth season and has totaled 86 strikeouts over 37 appearances. 

A couple of players with more limited pitching roles looking to expand upon it this season include Zayn Bates who has allowed just one earned run on the varsity squad in two appearances, Avery Shelton who looks to improve from his five innings of work last season as a true freshman where he held opponents to just a .286 batting average against and Sam Barksdale who struck out one in one inning of work last season. 

In terms of newcomers, Faulkner brings a strong mix of power and lineup versatility into the fold at Harrison Field in a recruiting class McCarthy is thrilled to have on campus and attributes to the insanely dedicated and intentional work of Assistant Coach Joanthan Villa. "Villa did one of the best recruiting jobs I've seen, especially to bring in the couple of power bats we need in the middle of the order to protect the guys from last year."

Faulkner brings in four switch hitters who look to contribute to matchup choices for McCarthy and the coaching staff. Jeyson Polanco slugged .564 last season at Highland CC with 10 doubles, five triples and six home runs on 55 hits and driving in 46 runs. Anthony Bassett Torres competed for Nicaragua in the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup before posting a .888 OPS last season at Cerritos College with 16 doubles out of 19 extra base hits. Dariel Colón put up a .960 OPS last season leading Ellsworth Community College in hits, triples and RBIs. 

Joining Bassett Torres and Polanco in the incoming infield mix is Luis Daniel Lizarraga, D'Anthony Marks, Grant Blalock and Jonny Marquez. Lizarraga carried a .950 OPS in his two seasons at New Mexico Military while turning 19 double plays defensively. Marks put up a .734 OPS at Prince George's last season. Marquez slugged .485 with 11 doubles and four home runs at Waubonesee Community College. Blalock looks to add depth behind the plate with an .989 fielding percentage.

Joining Colón as new outfielders are a pair of Keiser transfers, John-Michael Riley and Kenny Di Clemente, Colón's outfield mate at Cerritos and fellow Nicaraguan Marlon Oviedo and Miles College transfer Michael Archie II. Riley and Di Clemente reunite with 2023 Keiser teammate Jordan Destefano. Riley led the 2023 team with 55 RBIs while batting .312 and slugging .507. Di Clemente was second team all-Sun Conference in that season and carried a 1.069 career OPS with 90 RBIs as a Seahawk. Oviedo held a .986 fielding percentage at Cerritos and had extra base hits in 31 percent of his knocks.

The pitching staff also brought in some new contributors who look to deepen the Faulkner pitching staff. For the past couple of years, Faulkner has not had a lot of left handed pitchers but Faulkner brings four into the fray this season with Marshall Robinson, Horacio Cruz, Roberto Romero and Austin Lippolis. Robinson struck out five over 19 over 20 innings of work in two seasons at Roane State Community College. Cruz picked up seven saves with 48 strikeouts over 41.1 innings for Miami Dade last season. Roberto Romero struck out 18 over 19.1 innings for St. Katherine the last two seasons. Lippolis has four wins and a save in 16 career appearances for Muskingum University. 

The right handed pitchers added more firepower to the fray with Mat Mayer, Thomas Wilhite, Collin Netto and Bracken Rice. Mayer tossed 26 innings with a win and a save last season for Gateway Community College. Wilhite got five starts for Cumberland last season and struck out 34 over 27.2 innings. Rice fanned 14 over 19.1 last season for Cumberland as well. Netto carried a 1.98 WHIP last season at Southwest Mississippi Community College and struck out 20 over 30. 

The Eagles overall return 209 starts and 226 hits and eight of the 16 guys who played in the final game of last season. With the strong recruiting class, McCarthy also knows it will take some growth for the squad to find its roles and most effective ways to navigate the challenges of a college baseball season. "A lot of new guys and with new guys comes mistakes and learning and trying to figure things out. Early on, we may play a lot of people to figure out what we really got. I feel like we have a couple more arms in the bullpen that can help us. Our defense is good. It's better than it has been the last few years, but you still have to play live games to see how people respond."

The team has its eyes set on the challenges of the very strong Southern States Athletic Conference that seems to have taken another step forward this season as well. "Our league is better," McCarthy said. "Our league has teams ranked in the top 25 and there's just no free wins out there." The gauntlet of one of the NAIA's premier conferences aids the importance of McCarthy's approach to each game. "I think everybody in our conference is good so the biggest key for us isn't really who we're playing or what's a big game or not, you just have to consistently play hard, execute, throw strikes, not walk people and be consistent in scoring runs so you don't have to worry in big games knowing we can get a couple of runs by being patient and hopefully our pitchers can be consistent and attack and that gives you a lead. I think it's important to make every game the exact same way mentally. Mentally, you have to respect every single opponent and have a mindset of it's not who's on the other side, it's how do I execute this pitch, this inning, how do I compete when we're up by six, how do I compete when it's 1-1. It depends on how well they prepare mentally on their own and how well we prepare them as well. When we win, it's because of them. If we lose it's on me, if we win, it's because they're good and I think that defines what our program is about."

With all of these things, McCarthy is excited for the unknowns of another campaign. "I think it's fun to see where they take us, what direction and where we're really strong. You always have to have something happen in the season that sparks you and gives you some kind of theme for the year."

Faulkner takes its first five games on the road including Tuesday's season opener at UAH and a four game weekend against Truett-McConnell before opening Harrison Field a week from later against UAH at 3 p.m.