LEWISTON, Idaho - Top-seeded Faulkner (54-7) clawed itself out of a brief rut in the first inning of its Avista-NAIA World Series opener before fending off a ninth-inning, long-ball surge from No. 8 Antelope Valley (Calif.) (45-13-1) to clinch the 8-7 victory here at Harris Field Saturday evening.

The Pioneer's generated three earned runs on four hits in their first trip to the plate, but an RBI single from Reese Cooley and ensuing three-run blast to center field courtesy of Jacob Freeland slipped the Eagles into a one-run advantage in their first at-bat.

Ryan Rosa's second-inning single provided just enough of a window for Te'kwaan Whyte to finger-tip the back of home plate on a brilliant slide that edged Faulkner into a 5-3 lead.

Cooley added to his RBI column with a solo shot to left-center in the fifth, while Austin Paschke did more of the same with a monster rip over the video board in right field in the following frame.

Whyte's run-scoring single accounted for the second scratch in the sixth and the team's final score of the night.

UAV sparked again with a two-run seventh inning while Jake Harrison and Tyler Pittmon both went yard in the do-or-die ninth. The late surges trimmed the deficit, but ultimately weren't enough to propel the game further.

The Pioneers might have made solid contact against starting pitcher Tyler Tungate (9-0) in the first inning, but once the senior right-hander settled into a rhythm the UAV offense was quickly silenced.

Tungate fanned nine batters and surrendered just four additional hits over the following five innings in the win.

Andrew Carter held the mound for the seventh before Brandon Suttles took over for 1 1/3 innings where he booked two strikeouts while allowing an earned run.

Jonathan Wilkins gave up a homer in the ninth while securing the two-out save.

Whyte was 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored while Cooley went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and scored twice.

Faulkner advances to take on Southeastern (Fla.) at 5 p.m. central on Monday.