Faulkner sweeps Emmanuel in final home series
April 12, 2008
Montgomery, Ala. – The Faulkner baseball team hosted its final home series of the regular season this weekend against Emmanuel. The series opened on Friday with a doubleheader and closed this afternoon with nine innings of play. The Eagles swept the Lions 15-0, 8-3, 3-2.
Game one was the biggest and fastest win of the series for Faulkner as they eliminated the Lions in just five innings. The Eagles put up 12 hits in just four innings at the plate. After a scoreless first Faulkner threw up nine runs in the second inning, a single run in the third and the final five in the fourth. Though an impressive nine Eagle hitters racked up RBIs in the game it was Jonathan Cagle’s fourth inning grand slam that marked the contest’s crowning achievement. It was the senior’s only at bat that game.
Kevin Leslie was 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Jonathan Gober was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI and TJ Santos went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Michael Colley was 1-for-1 with a pair of RBIs and Austin Adams, Bart Farley and Michael Dewitt were each 1-for-1 with an RBI. Jose Morillo was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Brent DeFoor held the mound for the birds in the opener. The senior allowed only two hits while striking out five batters in the shutout.
Game two was close until the Eagles leapt out of the 2-2 tie in the fourth by knocking in four runs. Faulkner added another run in each of the fifth and sixth innings for the victory.
Ryan Chase was the starting pitcher in game two. He allowed eight hits, but gave up only two earned runs. Chase finished his six innings with three strikeouts. Roberto Ferguson threw the last inning and allowed only a single hit.
The Eagles delivered another hitting display in the second game. Austin Adams was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and had a three-run homer and a double. Kevin Villarreal, Jonathan Gober and Michael Colley were all 2-for-3 in the game with Villarreal cranking a double. Jonathan Cagle was 1-for-1 again in game two with a double. Michael Dewitt was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Kevin Leslie finished 1-for-3 with an RBI-triple.
Faulkner celebrated Senior Day just moments before the start of game three. Seven seniors were honored for their outstanding effort and commitment to the Faulkner baseball team. Jonathan Cagle, Bart Farley, TJ Santos, Michael Dewitt, Jordan Cowart, Brandon Reed and Brent DeFoor along with their families gathered behind home plate to receive a commemorative frame in honor of their contributions to the program.
That last nine innings proved the toughest offensively for the Eagles. Emmanuel’s Kyle Brown threw a two-hitter over nine innings to keep Faulkner’s scoring habit at bay. Unfortunately for the Lions both of those hits were home runs, courtesy of Austin Adams and Jonathan Cagle. Adams and Cagle were both 1-for-3 with a homer this afternoon. Each of them had two homers in the Emmanuel series. Faulkner’s other run came via a second inning walk with the bases loaded.
Mitch Whatley carried the Eagles defense for five innings. He allowed only three hits and a single earned run while tallying six strikeouts. Jordan Cowart took over and added thee strikeouts and allowed four hits and an earned run in just under four innings. Austin Adams closed the game for the Eagles.
Faulkner is now 30-19 overall and 13-11 in the conference. The Eagles currently hold fifth place in the SSAC standings. The team will travel to Mobile on Monday to take on Spring Hill. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m.