AUM wins opener vs. Faulkner, lightning suspends nightcap
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (faulknereagles.com) – Auburn Montgomery collected 13 hits en route to a 6-4 victory over Faulkner here Friday afternoon in the first game of a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader at the AUM Baseball Complex. Game 2 was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Eagles leading 3 -2. The game will be resume Saturday afternoon at 2.
In Game 1, the Warhawks grabbed the lead in the second, collecting four hits off of Torres. After three singles loaded the bases, Cody Rush singled sharply to center to score Brandon Davis for the first run of the game, but Faulkner’s Alexis Cruz threw a dart to catcher Mario Amaral to gun down Mac Seibert at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Faulkner tied it in the top of the fourth, with David Palenzuela, T.J. Condon and Dario Polanco all singled to load the bases, and Dennis Morton then knocked in a pair of runs with the fourth hit of the inning. Nick Cain then grounded into a fielder’s choice, driving in the third run to deadlock the game at 3. The Warhawks responded in their half of the inning, with a walk and a single putting two runners on base in front of Dalton Kelley’s triple, giving AUM a 5-3 lead. Kaleb Harris followed with another single, scoring Kelley to push the margin to three again.
The Eagles trimmed the lead to two in the sixth when Amaral, who had doubled, scored on Morton’s single to right. AUM closer Jed Carter then entered, striking out Cain to prevent further damage.
Torres (8-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on 11 hits in four innings of work. Kade Suther earned the victory, improving to 8-3 on the season. Carter earned his 15th save for AUM. Palenzuela had three hits, while Polanco and Morton had two apiece for the Eagles in the opener.
The nightcap again went AUM’s way early, with the Warhawks scoring in the bottom of the first. Three straight singles are two were out off of Faulkner starter Phillip Anderson loaded the bases, and a wild pitch allowed AUM to take a 1-0 lead.
Faulkner grabbed the lead in the fourth. Jennings and Alexis Cruz drew walks to open the inning, chasing AUM starter Seth Arroyo before he had allowed a hit. Palenzuela greeted reliever Chance Calloway with a double into the left-field corner, scoring a pair of runs for a 2-1 Faulkner advantage. Condon then singled in Palenzuela to make it 3-1.
Michael Tedford’s two-out, run-scoring double brought AUM to within 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth, before the lightning stoppage ended the night.
