Michael Clapperton had a huge day at the plate with four hits to end the Falcons doubleheader at UA Fort Smith. He had three of his hits in the second game of the day as the Falcons earned a split on the day.
 
The Falcon offense started slowly in the first game of the day. In the top of the fourth, Jojo Allen doubled down the right field line scoring Thornton to get the Falcons on the board. In the next frame, Thornton hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Hayden Matthewson and the last run the Falcons generated was on a Devin Ferrari grounder to third scoring Clapperton. Falcon pitching struggled to find the plate as the Lions scored early for the 25-3 final.
 
The Lions started the scoring in the second game of the day but were limited to three runs. The Falcons clawed their way back in the game. In the top of the third, Clapperton doubled to left center scoring Cole Dickie to trail 3-1 after three. In the top of the fifth, the Falcon offense woke up to take the lead. Clapperton once again got the scoring started with a single through the left side scoring Dickie.  Garret Thornton tied the game at three with a single up the middle scoring Clapperton.
 
The Falcons took the 4-3 lead on an Oswaldo Godina sacrifice fly to center scoring Jay DeSoto and J Raul Lopez doubled to left field scoring Thornton to give the Falcons a 5-3 lead. The Lions responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh but that's all they could muster as Tyler Stone came in and closed the door striking out four of the seven Lions he faced to collect his first save of the year and get the Falcons the 5-4 victory.
 
Torren Brozovich had multiple hits in game two. DeSoto and Lopez both had a hit in each game to give themselves multiple hits on the day. Dickie scored twice in game two. Clapperton and DeSoto each scored once during both games. Clapperton drove in two runs in game two while Thornton drove in a run in each game.
 
Jake Rhode improved to 3-0 on the season as he went seven innings giving up six hits and striking out three Lions. Tyler Stone finished up the rest of the two innings striking out four and giving up zero hits to pick up his first save of the year.
 
The Falcons will be home next weekend to face off against Oklahoma Christian at Momentum Bank Ballpark. Download the UTPB Athletics App today to follow the Falcons all season long.