Baseball

 

 

 

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For a complete list of individual and team statistics click here.

 

 

 

Warriors blister Eagles, advance to semifinals against Lee

 

Jeff Baldwin starts the game for the Eagles

 

April 26, 2008

 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Southern Wesleyan jumped on Faulkner starter Jeff Baldwin for six runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back Saturday afternoon, advancing to Saturday night's semifinal round of the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament with a convincing 15-8 victory over the Eagles.


     The Warriors, 35-20, will play Lee for the right to face Auburn Montgomery Sunday afternoon at 1 for the tournament title. The Eagles end their season at 35-22.


     Southern Wesleyan's six-run explosion included only two hits. Faulkner starter Jeff Baldwin walked three and hit three batters in only two-thirds of an inning of work. Kody Hightower had a two-run single and Davey Blackburn an RBI single as well in the inning.

 

Jud Harper takes the mound late in the game for Faulkner


     The lead grew to 8-0 in the second before Faulkner battled back. Brandon Reed hit a three-run homer and Kevin Leslie added a two-run shot in a five-run second to cut the margin to 8-5. The Flames added three more in the third, however, to push the lead back to six and were never threatened again.

 

Brandon Reed gets busy at the plate against the Warriors


     Warrior starter Matt Cape went the distance, scattering 14 hits, to improve to 6-1.


     Hightower and Kellen Kmiecik had three hits apiece for Southern Wesleyan, which got two hits each from Blackburn, Drew Sherwood and Brandon Brown. Faulkner's Michael Colley had four hits in the game, while Leslie, Reed, Austin Adams and T.J. Santos added two apiece. One of Adams hits was a solo home run.

 

Bart Farley bids the game farewell - It was the last game for the Eagle seniors

 

 

 

 

 

AUM cruises past Faulkner, stays unbeaten


 

April 26, 2008


     MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Second seed Auburn Montgomery took advantage of Faulkner's hospitable mood Friday night, blistering the Eagles 15-8 to remain unbeaten in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament. The Senators, 40-18, saw their crosstown counterparts commit five errors, issue four walks and hit four batters in a game that was never in doubt.      AUM's Chase Burch scorched a three-run double in the bottom of the first to get the Senators rolling, and they didn't stop until the lead had ballooned to 13-0. The 15 runs give AUM 38 in its three tournament victories. Faulkner came to life in the seventh, scoring seven times, but it was way too little and way too late.

 

Justin Maynard rocks AUM with a three-run blast in the seventh inning


     AUM faces once-beaten Lee at 1 p.m. Saturday. If the Senators win, they'd need to lose twice to the Southern Wesleyan-Faulkner winner to not capture the tournament title. If AUM were to lose to Lee on Saturday there would be three teams left with one loss, and the Senators would receive the bye to Sunday afternoon's championship game because they stayed in the winners' bracket the longest.


     Faulkner and Southern Wesleyan play at 4 p.m. Saturday.

 

Austin Adams cranks a two-run shot in the seventh inning as well


     For the Senators, Burch had four RBIs, while Cody Shields had two hits and three RBIs. Also with two hits for AUM were Shane Moye, Daniel Jones, Matt Arrighi, Stephen Patrick and R.J. McVoy. Every Senator starter got a hit in the game. The Eagles' got a three-run home run from Justin Maynard and a two-run shot from Austin Adams, both coming in the seventh. Bart Farley, Kevin Leslie and Michael Colley each had two hits, and Brandon Reed added a solo home run.

 


 

 

Eagles douse Flames in second round

 

Ryan Chase goes after the Flames in game two of the tournament

 

April 25, 2008

 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner's Winston Stone looped a two-out, two-run single to left igniting a seven-run sixth inning as the fifth-seeded Eagles shocked No. 3 and regular season champion Lee 13-7 Thursday night to stay unbeaten in the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball tournament.

 

     Faulkner's victory sends it into Friday night's winners' bracket game with cross-town rival Auburn Montgomery at 7. Lee faces Reinhardt in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Friday.
 
Kevin Leslie puts one over the wall against Lee
 
     The game was tied at 6 when Stone, who had three RBIs on the night, fisted the first pitch from Flame reliever Jeff Ibarra just past the reach of third baseman Josh Guy, plating the go-ahead runs. Two hits and two wild pitches later and the Eagles had broken the game open. Faulkner sent 11 men to the plate in the seven-run outburst which included five hits, four of which were run-scoring singles.
 
     "It was a huge bottom of the sixth for our guys, with Winston Stone's the biggest,'' Faulkner head coach Brent Barker said. "He didn't hit it hard, but he hit it where they weren't. Then we got some hard-hit balls after that. And I thought Jeff Baldwin, our final reliever, did a good job getting some outs so we could save our closer for later in the tournament.''
 
     Faulkner scored twice in the first and added three more in the second to build a 5-1 lead, and still lead 6-3 heading to the top of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles by Lee's Jeremy Hutslar and Clint Harrelson cut the lead to 6-4 and chased Faulkner starter Ryan Chase. After coaxing a deep fly ball for the inning's second out, Faulkner reliever Jordan Cowart hung a curve ball to Flame rightfielder Kevin Wyman, who sent it well over the leftfield wall to deadlock the game at 6.
 
Jeff Baldwin finishes the game for the Eagles
 
     In the decisive sixth, Lee used three pitchers, who hit two Faulkner batters and walked another in the uprising. The Flames added a single run in the eighth to close out the scoring.
 
     Faulkner collected 13 hits in the game, with every player in the lineup having at least one. Kevin Leslie, Austin Adams and Michael Colley had two hits apiece. Leslie and Stone each had three RBIs, while Topher Blanchette added two. Lee had 10 hits against three Faulkner pitchers.
 
 
 

 

Eagles advance in winner's bracket

 

Austin Adams cranks a two-run shot against the Warriors - the only homer of the tournament thus far

 

April 24, 2008

    

Faulkner earned a measure of redemption in the first round of the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball tournament, cruising to a 7-3 victory over a Southern Wesleyan team that swept the Eagles in a three-game series earlier in the season.


     The Eagles, 34-20, advance into the winners' bracket to face No. 3 and regular season conference champion Lee Thursday night at 7. The Warriors, who fell to 33-20, try to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament against Brewton-Parker Thursday at 1 p.m.

 

Brent DeFoor racks up an impressive nine strikeouts Wednesday night


     Senior righthander Brent DeFoor threw 133 pitches and went the distance, scattering seven hits while striking out nine. He took a shutout into the seventh before allowing a pair Warrior runs.


     Faulkner scored single runs in the first two innings, then stretched its lead with two in the fifth and three in the sixth. Austin Adams two-run homer in the fifth was the game's biggest blow. Kevin Leslie had three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs for Faulkner, while Jonathan Gober added two hits and also scored twice.

 

Jonathan Gober guns down a runner at first


     Southern Wesleyan's Kenneth Wagner had an RBI single and scored a run, while Kody Hightower and Drew Sherwood both had a pair of hits.

 

 

 

Eagles honored in SSAC awards ceremony

April 24, 2008

The Southern States Athletic Conference presented the 2008 individual, coach and team awards last night prior to the final game. The Eagles took home a host of awards during the presentation.

     Junior outfielder Kevin Leslie was selected first team all-conference and second team honors went to senior pitcher Brent DeFoor, junior shortstop Austin Adams and freshman catcher Kevin Villarreal.

     Villarreal was also selected to the all-freshman team along with pitcher Roberto Ferguson. All-academic honors went to sophomore pitcher James Lusk and sophomore third baseman Justin Maynard.

 

 

Faulkner tries to keep season alive in SSAC Tourney

 

April 22, 2008

 

For head coach Brent Barker and his Faulkner baseball team the task at hand is clear but daunting – win this week’s Southern States Athletic Conference tournament or see their season come to a premature close.

 

     The Eagles are hosting the eight-team, double-elimination event that starts today at Faulkner’s Harrison Field, and to earn a bid to the NAIA Region XIII tournament in Cleveland, Tenn., they must be the last team standing.

 

     “We know what we’re facing, and I believe we’re capable of putting a great week together and winning this tournament,’’ Barker said. “There are a lot of really good baseball teams in our league, and it will take us playing the best baseball we’ve played all year to win it. But that is indeed our goal and expectation.’’

 

     Faulkner (33-20, 15-12 SSAC), the fifth seed in the tournament, plays fourth-seed Southern Wesleyan at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Three first-round games will be played earlier in the day, with second-seed Auburn Montgomery facing seventh-seed Reinhardt at 10 a.m., third-seed Southern Poly battling sixth-seed Berry at 1 p.m., and top-seed Lee taking on eighth-seed Brewton-Parker at 4 p.m. The tournament continues with four more games on Thursday at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. For tournament updates and pairings, please visit the SSAC website at www.ssacsports.com.

 

     The Eagles’ first-round matchup with Southern Wesleyan provides an opportunity for redemption. In late March, the Warriors swept a three-game home series against Barker’s team. The lost weekend did serve as a reversal of fortunes, however, with Faulkner winning 11 of its last 13 games. Faulkner started the season 15-4 and found its way into the NAIA Top 25, but then lost 14 of its next 21 games before righting the ship.

 

     “We’re playing well right now,’’ Barker said. “We’re starting to hit the ball like we did early in the season, and we feel good about where our pitching is too. I think we’ll have a chance this week.’’

 

     While regular season champion Lee and runner-up Auburn Montgomery having already secured bids to the six-team regional May 6-10, the other SSAC teams competing this week are fighting for their post-season lives. This week’s tournament champion receives a third automatic bid to the regional, which will pit teams from the SSAC and the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. The GCAC receives two automatic bids, with the sixth and final bid going to an at-large team which could come from either conference.

 

     The winner of the Region XIII tournament will travel to Florida to face the winner of the Region XIV Tournament in a best two-of-three Super Regional May 14-16. The Super Regional winner advances to play in the NAIA World Series, which is scheduled for May 23-30 in Lewiston, Idaho.