BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – GAME 2 – Blue Mountain earned its first-ever series victory over Faulkner here Saturday, winning the important SSAC doubleheader.
The Eagles held a 36-2 record against The Toppers before today's twin bill, dating back to 2011.
Before that, the Toppers evened the series 1-1 in Game 2, winning 6-3 behind a complete game from
Matthew Koch and a first-inning grand slam from
Austin Beech.
Faulkner took a 1-0 lead, but the Toppers would load the bags for Beech in the bottom of the first. Beech then proceeded to launch a fastball over the right center fence against Faulkner starter Jaxson Forrester for a granny and a 4-1 BMCU lead.
The biggest hiccup for Koch would come in the sixth, as Faulkner's Jorge Lucero launched a two-run homer over the center field wall to get his team to within a run.
Blue Mountain would answer with two unearned runs in the sixth on an error by Eagle shortstop Francisco Soriano, who threw one past the first baseman on an
Easton Rainer ground ball, scoring
Hayden Arant and Beech.
Kock (3-1) earned the complete-game victory, tossing seven innings, giving up three runs on three hits with six Ks.
Blue Mountain tagged Forrester for four earned runs on six hits. Beech finished with two hits, four RBI and two runs scored for Blue Mountain in the win.
GAME 3
Blue Mountain would get the 11-5 victory in the third game of the series, giving them the first series over Faulkner in program history.
Taylor Sipes (3-0) was money on the mound for Blue Mountain, shutting down the Faulkner bats. He would go seven innings, giving up a run on six hits with six Ks for the victory.
The Toppers got after it early, getting two in the first on an RBI single by
Alex Frillman and an RBI double by
Hayden Arant.
In the second,
Reiley Tate singled in
Gavin Coles and Frillman doubled in Tate, followed by an RBI triple from
Austin Beech and an RBI single by Arant, chasing Faulkner starter Nicholas Graham. The Toppers tagged Graham for seven runs on eight hits in just 1.1 innings of work.
Frillman struck again in the fifth for the Toppers, doubling to left and driving in two more to give his team a 9-0 lead.
Easton Rainer gave the Toppers a 10-1 lead in the sixth with an RBI double off the right center field wall and
Josh Smith hit a sac fly in the eighth to make it 11-2.
The Eagles tried to make it a game in the ninth, scoring three against reliever
Weston Fuller. Fuller would hold on for the save, going 1.2 innings.
Frillman finished with four hits and five RBI, while Tate had three hits and three runs scored and Arant had three hits.
Gavin Coles finished with two hits and three runs scored also for the Toppers.
"We're really happy to get this series over a team like Faulkner," BMCU head coach
Taylor Clark said. "It is historic for us because Faulkner is such a perennial powerhouse. Our guys didn't let the loss from Friday get to us, and we came out ready to go today. I'm really proud of them."
BMCU (21-11, 6-6 SSAC) returns to SSAC action Friday against Talladega at noon CT in Talladega, Ala.
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