WALESKA, Ga. - Faulkner missed out on chances to get out of the first couple of innings as Reinhardt jumped to a 6-1 lead, enough to hold off a late push from the visitors in a 8-4 loss Tuesday afternoon at Ken White Field in a top-15 matchup
Orlando Lorduy delivered a two-out hit in the first before stealing second to set up Edrien Martinez for an RBI double to take a 1-0 lead in the first.
Horacio Cruz got two outs quickly in the bottom half of the frame before a two strike battle resulted in a walk and was followed by another two strike single from the hosting and fifth-ranked Eagles to set the stage for back-to-back hits to bring in three runs. Â
After a quiet top half of the second, Reinhardt capitalized on a pair of Faulkner errors to plate three more and take a 6-1 lead. From the third through the sixth,
Mat Mayer,
Collin Netto and
Evan Valencia combined to work four consecutive shutout innings to give the No. 15 ranked Eagles a chance to get back into it. In the fifth,
Marlon Oviedo's two out single and Daniel Lizarraga's double brought in one and in the sixth
Christian Webb drove in
Jeyson Polanco and Lorduy to make it 6-4.Â
However Reinhardt quickly responded with a two-run homer from Brewton-Parker transfer Jacob Mantooth to put the game back to a four run difference.
Jordan Destefano came in and put out the fire for the next two innings facing the minimum to end the game. In the top of the ninth,
Jack Brinkley got a one out single trying to spark the rally before
Marlon Oviedo was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on deck. However, that's as close as Faulkner could get in the last nonconference game of the regular season and ends with a 12-3 mark out of the SSAC.Â
Faulkner welcomes Middle Georgia State to start an important month to wrap up the regular season. The Eagles sit in a tie for second place three games back of leader William Carey with 12 games to go, including three game sets with the Crusaders and co-second place Loyola. Middle Georgia is in sixth with just two games separating fourth from eighth in the SSAC standings. First pitch is slated for Friday at 6 p.m. at Harrison Field.
