Faulkner inched ever nearer to clinching the regular season SSAC crown Thursday night as it took the first of a three-game set from Bethel 9-1.

Evan Gillespie (JR/Princeton, N.J.) gave the Eagle bullpen the night off. The Faulkner starter worked a complete game on 104 pitches while allowing seven hits and issuing one walk.

Faulkner opened the scoring in the top of the first when Marcus Ragan (SR/Vicksburg, Miss.) drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a Jacob Freeland (SR/Cape Coral, Fla.) single to center.

Bethel tied the game in the bottom of the third when Sebastian Cortes stroked a leadoff single and scored on an Austin Brenner base hit. The even affair proved short-lived as the Eagles hung two on the board in the top of the fourth to regain control. Tyler Paulsen (JR/Jolliet, Ill.) singled before Jonathan Villa (JR/Ensenada, Mexico) walked and gave way to courtesy runner Mike Battle (JR/Birmingham, Ala.). Ragan doubled to center to plate the pair and put the Eagles up 3-1. After Ragan parlayed a hit-by-pitch into a run in the seventh inning, Faulkner broke the game open in the ninth with a five-run rally.

Freeland doubled home Te'kwaan Whyte (SR/Stone Mountain, Ga.) to make the lead 4-1. Troy Black (SO/Dayton, Ohio)'s sacrifice fly drove in Myron Mebane (SR/Tallahassee, Fla.) for the 5-1 advantage. Paulsen tripled to deep left-center to score Freeland and Hagen Holmstead (JR/Salt Lake City, Utah) for the 8-1 score. John Michael Mathews (JR/Birmingham, Ala.) drove in the final run of the game with a sacrifice fly that plated Paulsen.

Gillespie (8-0) worked a 1-2-3 ninth to polish off the win while lowering his season ERA to 1.39 in the process.

Faulkner (34-8, 18-1 SSAC) resumes the series Friday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader.