MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner earned a measure of redemption in the first round of the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball tournament, cruising to a 7-3 victory over a Southern Wesleyan team that swept the Eagles in a three-game series earlier in the season.

     The Eagles, 34-20, advance into the winners' bracket to face No. 3 and regular season conference champion Lee Thursday night at 7. The Warriors, who fell to 33-20, try to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament against Brewton-Parker Thursday at 1 p.m.

     Senior righthander Brent DeFoor threw 133 pitches and went the distance, scattering seven hits while striking out nine. He took a shutout into the seventh before allowing a pair Warrior runs.

     Faulkner scored single runs in the first two innings, then stretched its lead with two in the fifth and three in the sixth. Austin Adams two-run homer in the fifth was the game's biggest blow. Kevin Leslie had three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs for Faulkner, while Jonathan Gober added two hits and also scored twice.

     Southern Wesleyan's Kenneth Wagner had an RBI single and scored a run, while Kody Hightower and Drew Sherwood both had a pair of hits.