Vasquez whiffs 15 as Faulkner blanks Brewton-Parker 8-0
MOUNT VERNON, Ga. (faulknereagles.com) – Mark Vasquez struck out 15 en route to his eighth victory of the season without a defeat as fourth-ranked Faulkner rolled by Brewton-Parker 8-0 here Friday night in the opener of a three-game Southern States Athletic Conference series.
Playing in a steady rain, the senior right-hander was dominant throughout, allowing just four hits and not walking a single battler. With the win, Patrick McCarthy’s Eagles improved to 36-10 overall and 16-3 in the SSAC, leaving them alone atop the league standings.
“Mark was incredible with all three of his pitched tonight,” McCarthy said. “He commanded both sides of the plate and threw one of the best games of the season. That was a great performance. He got better as the game went on too and that was what was most impressive.”
Faulkner got all the production it would need in the first when Darrius Jennings singled and Alexis Cruz doubled, setting up an RBI groundout from David Palenzuela and a 1-0 lead. Dennis Morton and Jennings both doubled in the second, accounting for another run and a 2-0 Eagle advantage.
The lead grew to 5-0 in after a three-run sixth. A Cruz double was the only hit of the inning, with the Eagles benefitting from a pair of walks and a hit batsman. Nick Cain’s two-run double highlighted another three-run inning in the seventh, which closed out the scoring.
Onix Martinez had three hits for the Eagles, while Jennings, Cruz and Morton had a pair of hits each.
Faulkner and Brewton-Parker conclude the series with a Saturday doubleheader, with Game 1 set for a noon central time start.
