COLUMBUS, Ga. - Faulkner entered Saturday of the NFCA NAIA Leadoff Classic 1-1 and is now heading home with a 4-1 mark for the weekend and 8-3 for the season. After earning their second win against a nationally ranked opponent this season on Friday night on a walkoff over Georgia Gwinnett, the Lady Eagles have since added two more such wins, one over another Top 10 opponent and one more over a Receiving Votes squad, as the bats came alive and the defense came up with timely stops, including huge strikeouts by the pitching staff.
Faulkner 8, #15 Reinhardt 1
After allowing three baserunners on two singles and a walk and one of them to come across in the top of the first, Addison Moseley and the defense settled in and the bats got hot as Faulkner shut out Reinhardt and scored eight runs in a battle of Eagles in Faulkner's sole contest in the South Commons Stadium. Moseley struck out the next two batters in the opening frame to start her team's response.
Anna Catherine Segrest was the first to get on board for Faulkner, as she struck out but reached on the dropped third strike. She advanced to second when Addyson Jarman reached on a hit-by-pitch and then third on a Madelyn Becker groundout before stealing home on a wild pitch that tied the game. Moseley then worked a three-up three-down inning with a pair of swinging strikeouts.
Terrell opened the bottom of the second with a single to short, and the senior right fielder advanced to third with two sacrifice bunts before scoring on an Abrianna Davis single to left. Chloe Davidson doubled to left center to score Davis and Segrest singled to second to plate Davidson. Moseley stranded two in the third, the most baserunners she allowed all day.
Becker opened the bottom of the third with a single down the right field line and beat the throw to second on a Sarah Williams grounder to second for an unsuccessful fielder's choice. The two moved up 60 feet on a Terrell sac bunt and then came home on a single by senior catcher Kensley Wesley in her first time back in the lineup this season. In the bottom of the fourth, Segrest and Jarman tallied base hits down the right and left field lines, respectively, and the 2- and 3-hole hitters capped the scoring with a Williams double to center.
Moseley scattered five hits and a walk while striking out seven for her second win of the season. Davidson and Segrest both went 2-4 at the plate and Wesley 2-2 in her return from injury. The Lady Eagles tallied 11 hits and eight runs on RU pitcher Macy Langley.
Faulkner 16, RV Campbellsville 8 (5 Inn.)
Immediately following the win, Faulkner changed fields and prepared to take on Campbellsville, and the Lady Tigers appeared to have the upper hand staying at Field 4. Their first three batters all walked. A pair of singles followed that cleared the bases, and the fourth batter touched home on a wild pitch before an out was recorded. However, Davidson, starting in the circle for the first time this season, caught a lineout to start turning things around. The seven-hole hitter hit a single, but Williams caught her stealing from a throw behind the plate to Davis at second. The next batter grounded out to shortstop to stop the onslaught.
Outs were recorded with the first two Faulkner batters before Jarman and Becker singled to left and Williams walked. Jarman got her team on the board as Abbie Davis reached on a fielding error by the pitcher. Avery Goff then tied the score with a bases-clearing double to left field. Davidson settled in and allowed only one Lady Tiger to reach in each of the next two innings and escaped unscathed both times, while the Lady Eagles would go all the way through the lineup in a seven-run bottom of the second that gave them the lead for good.
Nine-hole hitter Bailea Boone drew a leadoff walk before stealing second. Davidson singled her over to third before Segrest brought her in on a single to short. Jarman reached on a fielder's choice before Becker doubled her over to third and scored Segrest on a standup double to left as the Lady Eagles chased the starter. The pitching change with Campbellsville down by just two did not pay off as Williams promptly laced a single to center to clear the bases again. Goff then walked, and the bases would be emptied once more as Abrianna Davis lofted a pitch over the left field fence to make the score 11-4 going into the third inning.
With another change in the circle, the Lady Tigers recorded their lone three-up three-down inning. In the top of the fourth, the first three CU batters tallied singles to the outfield, and a double brought two of them in. Faulkner quickly got two outs on the board as Davidson caught a lineout and threw over to Becker at third, who tagged the runner at third off the bag as the latter tried to steal home. But after a pair of doubles brought in two to make it a three-run game, Coach Hal Wynn subbed Abrianna Davis into the circle. The freshman from Summertown, Tenn., got her team out of the jam in one pitch as she threw a changeup that was lifted to right center, where Abbie Davis made a highlight-reel diving catch to get Faulkner out of the inning.
Becker led off the bottom half with another double, giving way to a pinch runner in Khloe Jones, who promptly stole third. Abbie Davis then legged out a perfectly laid bunt to first to plate Jones before stealing second herself and coming home on a double to left by Abrianna Davis. In the next inning, first baseman Kelbi Johnson got two outs via unassisted groundouts to first, plays that sandwiched another hit to Davis in the circle that she tipped to Davidson at second, who then passed to Johnson for a three-up three-down frame.
Korey Harris, the leadoff hitter for CU like Davidson, was the fourth to sub into the circle for her team, which she did with one out to go in the bottom of the fourth and induced a flyout to get out of bases-loaded situation. However, to start the bottom of the fifth, she plunked Jarman and walked Becker. Williams then deposited a pitch from Harris to almost the same spot as Davis did, resulting in a three-run home run and triggering the run-rule victory.
Williams went 2-3 at the dish with a walk and five RBI, as did Abrianna Davis with four RBI. Becker was a perfect 3-3 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. Faulkner tallied at least one hit and one walk against each pitcher while hitting .500 as a team, its second highest percentage of the season. Davis earned the team's first save this season with four putouts on four batters faced.
Faulkner 4, #7 Cumberlands 3
After her walkoff double to beat the No. 4 ranked team in the NAIA on Friday night, Davidson, who would go on to be named Faulkner's representative on the NFCA NAIA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team, opened the Sunday contest against No. 7 University of the Cumberlands with a hit. She advanced to second on a Segrest sac bunt, third as Jarman put the ball in play and then home to open the scoring as the UC shortstop made an errant throw trying to get Jarman out. The latter then stole second herself and doubled the score on a Williams single.
The Lady Eagle pitching staff allowed more than one hit in just one frame, coming in the third as leadoff batter Maleah Clinton singled and Grace Ross hit a two-run homer off starter Reece Patterson that tied the game. After surrendering a second single to third, Patterson got the next batter to fly out and struck out the next one swinging to limit the damage. She finished her day with a three-up, three-down frame in the fourth with two groundouts and another swinging strikeout to total five hits allowed and three strikeouts.
In the fifth, Abrianna Davis perfectly laced a single down the left field line and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Boone before coming home on a Davidson single. Moseley entered in relief in the bottom half and allowed a leadoff double to Clinton, who came to third on a grounder before tying the game back on a sac fly from Ross. An inning later, Moseley got things started on a better note with a pair of swinging strikeouts before working around a single to induce a flyout and keep the score 3-3 heading into the final inning.
Needing a spark in the seventh, Johnson started things off with a single to right center and then moved up 60 feet on a sac bunt from Mandi Hart. With two gone in the top of the frame, Segrest came up with a single to center that scored Johnson. The Patriot reliever got a flyout on her first at-bat to leave the bases loaded and keep it a one-run game.
With a narrow lead to protect, Moseley quickly forced her first batter to fly out and then shut the door on UC with a pair of strikeouts, one swinging and one looking. Her record has improved to 3-2 as she allowed just two hits and struck out four. The pitchers allowed just seven hits, five of them by two batters together. Davidson and Jarman were the only two Faulkner hitters with multiple hits, each with two and an RBI apiece. The Lady Eagles put up nine hits as a team on starting pitcher Jessica Cord.
Faulkner is set to play at home for the first time this season on Wednesday, March 4, at 1 and 3 pm against Brenau, another Leadoff Classic participant.
