Day one of the SSAC Conference Tournament got underway on Wednesday morning, with one of the most anticipated matchups of the first day of play: the 5th-seeded Faulkner Eagles facing the 4th-seeded Mobile Rams. 

Heading into the SSAC Conference Tournament, one thing college baseball fans from around the country might not realize or even understand is that the tournament is pool play, not double elimination or even single elimination. The winner of Pool A will face the winner of Pool B in the Championship game on Saturday, giving every team a fighting chance to win the conference tournament, something that seems pretty cool given the insane nature of college baseball. 

Faulkner and Mobile played five this season, with the Faulkner Eagles taking three of the five games and the regular-season series from the Rams. Faulkner brought a three-game winning streak to Jackson this weekend and, in many ways, was viewed as the dark horse to make some noise this weekend. 

Faulkner jumped out on Mobile early in the first inning with a solo shot from Jordan Carter to take an early 1-0 lead over Mobile in the top half of the first inning. A base hit from Wil King would score Reed Wilson for Mobile in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1. Faulkner would retake the lead in the top half of the 4th inning with a two-run shot from Edrien Martinez that brought CJ Robertson home to take a 3-1 lead over Mobile. Mobile would respond with a pair of base hits from Trevor Murphy and Adrian Salas that scored a combined three runs to the game at four runs each. Faulkner would retake the lead in the top half of the 6th inning with a timely hit and a wild pitch that gave Faulkner a 7-4 lead midway through the 6th inning. Faulkner would add an insurance run in the top half of the 8th inning to make it an 8-4 final. 

Starting on the mound for Mobile today was Jacob Thompson, who lasted 2.1 innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs, three walks, and only one strikeout. For Faulkner, it would be Samir Rojas starting today and would deliver a really good outing for the Falcons. Rojas delivered an incredible game, going a full eight innings, allowing three runs and four hits while striking out six. Rojas might not have had his best stuff, but he got the job done and saved arms for Faulkner for later in the tournament. 

Wednesday was a really good postseason matchup between these two teams, but in the end, Mobile had no answer for Faulkner’s bats, as the Eagles opened the SSAC Conference Tournament with a 7-4 victory, improving to 1-0 in pool play. Mobile had too many mistakes, and Faulkner took full advantage of those mistakes. 

Opponents for Thursday will be decided following the next game between the 8th-seeded Brewton-Parker and top-seed Abraham Baldwin.

Photo Credits – Emily Windham – Faulkner Athletics