MONTGOMERY, Ala. - When two great baseball teams meet, magic can happen and that is exactly what happened Saturday at Harrison Field with two games decided in the last inning ending with
Orlando Lorduy's 10th inning walk off home run in game three sealing the series over No. 7 William Carey two games to one.
WILLIAM CAREY 6, FAULKNER 2
In what felt like a heavyweight prize fight, Faulkner and William Carey mirrored each other every way possible. William Carey struck first in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, but Faulkner answered right back, capitalizing on a handful of battery miscues to tie it right back. The next four innings consisted of the two squads creating very similar opportunities with the same outcomes, zeros across the board around great pitching from
Mose Hayes and Bobby Magee.
In the sixth, a leadoff single and stolen base from Deejay Booth allowed Josh Alexander to drive in the go-ahead run, but
Samir Rojas, who entered with one out in the fifth and coaxed a double play ball on the first pitch to get out of a jam, found another way out with a couple of flyouts and a strikeout.
Edrien Martinez drew a one out walk in the home half of the frame and got to second before
Christian Webb singled up the middle to tie the game.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, a couple of near misses in the field snowballed into four runs in the top half. After a single from Tyler Ducksworth, a sacrifice bunt turned into a mess as the Eagles tried to get the lead runner, but kicked off Ducksworth's feet and into left field, failing to get an out. Jerod Williams hit a single to take the lead before Rigoberto Hernandez and Preston Ratliff drove in three more between the two to make it 6-2. Faulkner could not answer in the bottom half as the Crusaders tied the series and got a crucial win in the conference standings to create a three game lead over Faulkner again.
FAULKNER 6, WILLIAM CAREY 5 (10 Inn.)
The third game had every bit of drama one could ask for and expect when two top tier teams meet with three lead changes in the first four innings, a late comeback from the trailing team, and eventually the home team going home happy after a walkoff home run.
Faulkner took the lead on a double steal with Trinidad touching the plate before Lorduy scored on Edrien Martinez's single to go up two in the first. The lead was short lived as a single, double and triple in consecutive at bats tied the game before a groundout put the Crusaders in the lead. After that,
Alonzo Castellanos settled back in and pitched three more scoreless frames allowing Faulkner to tie the game in the third before taking the lead in the fourth and adding to it in the fifth 5-3.
Josh Alexander delivered another big hit for the Crusaders in the top of the seventh to make it 5-4 and Faulkner could not get anything going in the home half of the seventh or eighth which had been a theme since the bottom of the fifth with one out when Presto Ratliff shifted from first to the pitcher's mound for WCU who only allowed two base runners who could not get to second in that span.
In the top of the 8th,
Thomas Wilhite rebounded from a lead off single with a couple of strikeouts but a couple of battery mistakes put the tying run on third. Wilhite escaped it though with a fly out to
Marlon Oviedo to keep it 5-4 going to the ninth.
A leadoff double by Hernandez came home with a sacrifice fly from Alexander again to bring William Carey level with the Eagles in the top of the ninth.
Kenny Di Clemente led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk before
Marlon Oviedo's grounder caused troubles for William Carey and allowed both corner outfielders to remain safe. With two outs, Trinidad drew another walk to load the bases, but WCU got the fly out needed to send the game to extras.
In the top of the 10th, the defense continued to shine around great pitching and decisions from
Ty Correa who responded to a hit by pitch by picking off Eli Collins and trapping him in a rundown for the first out. After a one out single put the pressure back on, Correa coaxed a fly out and a fielder's choice grounder to get the bat/ back to the Faulkner dugout
Orlando Lorduy led off the inning and after losing grip on the bat earlier in the at bat—which incidentally was the second time this series that the three hole batter for the team lost grip of the bat and sent it flying out of play—faced a 1-2 count. The Panamanian hit a scorching drive down the right field line that had no signs of dropping until it cleared the wall and sent Harrison Field into a frenzy.
The walk off home run clinched the series over William Carey for the second straight season in extra innings after an 11th inning victory in game three in Hattiesburg last season.
The win gives Faulkner a head-to-head advantage over William Carey should the teams end the regular season tied, but the Eagles will need help from Blue Mountain and Loyola—William Carey's final two opponents— while maintaining winning ways themselves to overcome the two game difference in the standings with six games remaining until the conference tournament.
Faulkner holds a two game lead over third place Loyola who it travels to next weekend for a three game series. Faulkner also sits six games above fourth place almost fully securing a spot in the top three.
The Eagles and Wolf Pack open the series in New Orleans Friday at 6 p.m.
