MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Talladega College baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with No. 10 Faulkner University tonight on the road. The Tornadoes fell 11-5 in game one while winning 2-0 in game two. The Tornadoes are now 18-13 while Faulkner is 23-8 on the season.
Talladega is back in action this Saturday when it hosts No. 10 Faulkner for a doubleheader. Game one is set to start at noon with game two to follow.
Game 1: Talladega 5, Faulkner 11 – 7 innings
Trailing 4-1 after two innings, Talladega plated a pair of runs on four hits in the top of the third.
Eddie Velazquez singled up the middle and then later moved to second on an error by the first baseman on a failed pickoff attempt. He then moved to third when
Victor Rivera singled up the middle to put runners on the corners with no outs. Faulkner was able to get a double play ball to tally the first two outs of the frame, but Velazquez scored on the play to make it, 4-2. The Tornadoes cut the lead down to one when
Miguel Oropeza parked a solo shot over the left field wall to make it 4-3 before the inning ended.
Faulker got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third on a pair of hits to go up, 5-3.
Talladega posted a run in the fourth and fifth but it wasn't enough as Faulker answered in each of the same innings posting two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to take an 11-5 lead.
The Eagles bullpen didn't allow a base runner to reach in the last two innings.
Nomar Garcia paced all Talladega hitters for the game going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. Teammate
Darlin Fernandez was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, and two stolen bases.
Starting pitcher
Jose Franco took the loss to drop to 5-3. He allowed five hits over 2.1 innings of work while giving up five runs (all earned) and striking out two.
Game 2: Talladega 2, Faulkner 0 – 7 innings
Looking to bounce back in game two, Talladega got on the board in the top of the second. It started when
Isaac Guzman singled up the middle then stole second. He was able to take third when
Jesuette Dominguez grounded out to second. Guzman would then score off a wild pitch to make it 1-0 before the inning ended.
The Tornadoes added an insurance run in the top of the sixth off a passed ball to go up, 2-0.
Right-handed start
Samuel Guadamuz picked up the win to improve to 5-1 on the season. He threw a complete game shutout allowing just two hits and a walk over seven innings of work. Guadamuz struck out 11. His 11 strikeouts were the third game this season with 10 or more. His last one was on Feb 24 against Rust (11 strikeouts).
Fernandez, Oropeza, and Guzman all tallied one hit for the team's three hits. Fernandez and Guzman both scored a run.
