Faulkner sweeps Shorter
April 8, 2008
Montgomery, Ala. – With the SSAC tournament just a few weeks away, conference wins are becoming ever more important as the teams jockey for position in the standings. Only four games separate half the teams in the conference and no seed is completely safe. Faulkner is now tied for fifth in the standings after sweeping Shorter 8-5, 8-2, 8-7.
The Eagles entered the Shorter series at 7-11 in the conference after a disappointing round with rival Southern Wesleyan last week. The Hawks, though only 5-13 in the SSAC upon entering the series, were fresh off of an upset over conference leader and No. 2 Lee. Shorter stunned the Flames by putting and end to the program’s 34-game winning streak taking two of three in the series. Head coach Brent Barker and his Eagles never under estimated their opponent’s potential and set a tempo in game one that carried them for three games.
Senior Brent DeFoor was a strong presence for the Eagles at the mound in game one. He gave up seven hits and only four earned runs, while striking out five in six innings. Austin Adams got the save in the seventh and added another strikeout.
Kevin Leslie was 3-for-4 with an impressive two home runs and three RBIs in game one. Austin Adams was 3-for-4 with a home run and a pair of RBIs and Winston Stone went 2-for-3 with a homer. Michael Dewitt was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Ryan Chase opened game two at the mound. The junior allowed seven hits and only a single earned run in just over five innings. He finished the game with five strikeouts. Jordan Cowart pitched the remainder of the game for the Eagles. He allowed only one hit and had a strikeout.
Austin Adams had another impressive performance at the plate in game two. He was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Chris Myles was 2-fo-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Michel Dewitt was also 2-for-3 and had an RBI. Kevin Leslie finished the game 2-for-2.
Mitch Whatley went to work in the final game of the series. The junior allowed eight hits and four earned runs while striking out two in four innings. Roberto Ferguson took control of the mound for just over three innings and had four strikeouts and allowed only two hits and an earned run.
TJ Santos was a presence at the plate for Eagles in the last game. The senior went 2-for-4 and put out a three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh to give Faulkner the lead. Jonathan Gober was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Topher Blanchette added another RBI in his 1-for-3 performance.
The wins pushed the Eagles into a fifth place tie in the SSAC with Berry College. Faulkner is now 10-11 in the conference and 26-19 overall. The team will host William Carey in a nine inning game tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. The Eagles will return to conference play on Friday for game one of three part series with Emmanuel. Game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. A doubleheader is set to begin at noon on Saturday.