MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner swept a doubleheader from Loyola Thursday to clinch the victory in a series set to wrap Friday. The Eagles entered the final two days of the regular season in seventh place in the SSAC with three games to play. With only three games separating third place and seventh place, the Eagles eyed an opportunity to climb in the standings as they matched up with No. 3 seed Loyola.
FAULKNER 12, LOYOLA 8
Loyola got the bats going early to snatch a lead in the second inning. Drew Lee doubled to right-center to plate Reed Duthu. Myles Liggans singled home Jed Cambre to make it 2-0 before Jaxon Buratt drove in Myles Liggans with a single to left. Nathan McDonald later singled to get J.J. Garcia home.
After surrendering a four-spot to the Wolfpack in the second inning, the Eagles answered with a game-changing rally in the home half of the third.
Jordan Carter tripled to drive in
Tevin Landrum and
Orlando Arellano, cutting the deficit to 4-2. C.J. Robertson singled to center to get Carter home to cut it to 4-3.
Jeyson Polanco later singled to right to get Robertson across to tie the game.
Anthony Bassett Torres put the Eagles when his RBI fielder's choice got Edrien Martinez home. Dariel Colón later singled to left to drive in Torres for the 6-4 lead. Carter returned to the plate later in the inning to notch his second extra-base hit as well as his third and fourth RBIs of the frame. His double to right got a pair of runs home for the 8-4 advantage. Polanco's solo homer in the fourth moved the lead to 9-4.
With both starting pitchers chased early, the game found itself in the hands of the bullpens. The Wolfpack managed to plate two against the first reliever they faced.
Liggans took a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the fifth to get Ayden Authement home before a wild pitch scored Duthu to make it 9-6.
Faulkner got back those two runs and one more in the bottom of the fifth as they got to a pair of Loyola relievers in the frame. Martinez singled down the right field line to get Arellano home. Torres drew a bases-loaded walk to push across Carter before
Jimmy Perez absorbed a beanball to get
Marlon Oviedo home to make it 12-6. With the bases still loaded, Wolfpack reliever Ryder Loup entered the game and threw just one pitch to induce a pop-up to end the inning.
Loyola's offense kept grinding in the sixth as Colin Cure singled to left to get Buratt in and cut it to 12-7.
Winston Person entered the game for the Eagles, marking the seventh relief pitcher to appear in the game and the third for the home team. Person ended the threat and sent the game to the bottom of the sixth.
With two on and nobody out in the seventh, Faulkner summoned
Collin Rittenberry from the pen. He worked around a Garcia sacrifice fly that plated Duthu.
Rittenberry needed just 11 pitches to record two outs and end the game.
Rittenberry and Loup proved the only two relievers to not allow a run in the contest.
Marshall Robinson (2-1) notched the win with an inning of work.
FAULKNER 5, LOYOLA 4
Game two of the day saw Faulkner utilize eight pitchers to get through a 5-4 victory.
Samir Rojas went three innings on 55 pitches while allowing no earned runs before handing the ball over to a bullpen that proved capable.
Seth Creasy,
Collin Netto,
Mat Mayer,
Preston Steiner and
Bracken Rice each worked a scoreless frame in the nine-inning affair.
Loyola got the scoring started with a Cure sacrifice fly in the third that plated Garcia. Authement later singled to left to gate Buratt in for the 2-0 lead.
The Eagles did not trail long as the bats got to work in the home half of the inning. Carter singled to left to drive in Colón to cut it to 2-1. Arellano scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Martinez then lifted the Eagles with a single to right that got Carter across for the 3-2 advantage.
A Garcia sacrifice fly in the fourth allowed Jovan Swasey to tie the game. Arellano battled right back in the fourth with a single to right center that plated
Jimmy Perez.
The Wolfpack tied the game again in the sixth when Buratt's RBI grounder scored Swasey. The definitive swing of the game came in the home half of the sixth when
Seth Copeland singled to center to get Torres home for the final run of the game.
Peyton Perdue (2-0) picked up the win with an inning of work. Rice got the save with a flawless nine-pitch inning that featured a strikeout.
Faulkner (27-21, 14-12 SSAC) climbed to sixth in the standings with the wins and could move to fifth with a victory Friday.
