Faulkner blasts Blue Mountain 24-3 for ninth straight win

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (faulknereagles.com) – Nick Cain and Dennis Morton each had five RBIs in Faulkner’s 24-3 victory over Blue Mountain here Thursday night in the opener of their Southern States Athletic Conference series at Harrison Field.

Cain had a three-run homer and two additional hits, while Morton added a grand slam and an RBI single to pace the Eagles (18-4 overall, 4-0 SSAC), who won for the ninth straight time. Blue Mountain fell to 12-9 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

The three-game series was scheduled to be played in Mississippi, but the weather forecast forced Blue Mountain to come to Montgomery. The Toppers will be the home team in each game.

The Eagles pounced on Blue Mountain in the top of the first, with David Palenzuela’s run-scoring double getting Faulkner on the board. Cain, Mario Amaral, Onix Martinez and Dario Polanco all had RBI base hits, and Deivy Palmeiro added a sacrifice fly during the six-run uprising.

Cain’s three-run homer – his fifth of the season – pushed the margin to 9-0 in the second, and the senior right fielder added another RBI single during a seven-run third. Morton’s grand slam was the big hit in the inning, which ended with Faulkner on top 16-0. Another run-scoring single from Martinez highlighted a three-run fourth as the advantage ballooned to 19-0.

The Toppers scored a pair of runs in the fourth and another in the fifth off of Faulkner reliever Preston Szuch, who struck out two and surrendered three hits. Clay Moreland’s single in the sixth plated the Eagles’ 20th run of the game. Faulkner added four runs in the seventh, with Moreland’s RBI single extending the lead to 21 runs. Kurt Lipscomb pitched a perfect sixth and seventh innings for the Eagles to end it.

Mark Vasquez improved to 5-0 with the victory, allowing just two hits and striking out five in three innings of work. Blue Mountain starter Collin McCrory (2-3) didn’t make it out of the first inning and took the loss.

Chase Morris had four hits for Faulkner, which also got multiple hits from Polanco, Martinez, Amaral and Alexis Cruz.

Faulkner and Blue Mountain play a doubleheader Friday afternoon, with the first pitch for the seven-inning opener set for 1.