LEWISTON, Idaho - Second-ranked and seeded Georgia Gwinnett (50-11) bolted out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 20-9 victory over No. 1 Faulkner (54-9) here in the elimination bracket of the Avista-NAIA World Series at Harris Field this afternoon.

A quiet first inning soon gave way to eight runs for the Grizzlies spanning the second and third frames.

Faulkner turned to the long ball for all of its scoring in the outing. Te'Kwaan Whyte sparked the slugfest with a two-run homer to right-centerfield in the third.

Austin Paschke repeated the feat in the fourth while Reid Long then went yard solo style to right field four pitches later.

Faulkner worked itself into a bases-loaded situation before the forth inning expired, but were unable to capitalize further.

The Grizzlies, however, propelled their lead into double-digit territory with a seven-run sixth weighted by Kade Carrigan's grand slam.

Ryan Rosa found greener pastures with a two-run homer to left-center in the bottom half of the same inning before Reese Cooley delivered a no-doubter to the same spot just moments later.

Georgia Gwinnett produced five more runs over the seventh and eighth frames while Gage West capped the Eagle scoring with a solo bomb in the ninth.

Alex Carrillo (5-1) suffered his only loss of the year after giving up five earned runs on as many hits over 1 2/3 innings of work from the mound.

Alex DuBord saw the most time on the hill with three innings of action beginning late in the third inning. He allowed six earned runs on three hits while striking out a pair of batters.

Faulkner emptied the bullpen allowing Evan Gillespie, Brandon Suttles, Caleb DeRouen, Isaac Guerrero, Braden Olive, Jonathan Wilkins and Reid Long to all see time from the middle of the diamond today.

Rosa was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run while West and Freeland were both 2-for-4 and scored. West also had an RBI.

Long was 2-for-5, scored twice and knocked in a run.

"This is going to sound cliche, but that's baseball," head coach Patrick McCarthy told his team after the loss. "You guys know I'm a man of faith. I believe God put you in this position, allowed you to stand on the shoulders of your family and become a part of our family forever. You guys had a target on your back all year and have faced more adversity than any team I've ever coached. You're not going to remember scores, guys. You're going to remember the little moments in games and the times you had with each other. You never stopped fighting. Remember that in life. Don't ever stop grinding. I appreciate everything you did for me this year. You guys taught me a lot too. I love you and I couldn't be more proud."

Georgia Gwinnett advances to take on the winner of the Lewis-Clark State and Antelope Valley game tomorrow.