MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Top-seeded Faulkner walked its way past Olivet Nazarene Monday night with a 15-3 victory over the No. 5 seed in the Montgomery Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round.

The Eagles fell behind 1-0 in the first inning when Tyler Fisher's sacrifice fly plated Ryan Campbell. The lead proved short lived as Max Guzman (JR/Miami, Fla.) singled to left to in the home half of the frame to drive in Te'kwaan Whyte (SR/Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Jacob Freeland (SR/Cape Coral, Fla.) for the 2-1 Faulkner lead. The Eagles never looked back.

Faulkner added two more runs in the third on a Marcus Ragan (SR/Vicksburg, Miss.) double and a Guzman grounder. Jonathan Villa (JR/Ensenada, Mexico) stroked a two-run homer over the right field fence in the fourth to push the lead to 6-1.

The wheels came off Olivet in the fifth when Guzman, Troy Black (SO/Dayton, Ohio), John Michael Mathews (JR/Birmingham, Ala.), DeJhard Kimbrough (JR/Atlanta, Ga.) and Ragan all scored despite the team getting only one hit in the frame. The Eagles came out of the inning with an 11-1 lead. ONU scratched out another run in the top of the sixth when BraadonPayne scored on a Mason Sherrill single to cut it to 11-2.

Faulkner got three on the board in the home half of the frame when Mathews tripled in Black and Sam Anthony (JR/Columbus, Ga.) before scoring on a throwing error. The Eagles added another in the eighth when Zack Glines (JR/Dalton, Ga.) scored on a wild pitch. The Tigers' final run came when Nathan Moonan singled home Sherrill in the ninth.

Kenuel Dominguez (8-3) took the loss for the Tigers, working four innings while allowing seven earned runs and striking out two. Kyle Laberge (JR/Mansfield, Texas) (6-0) picked up the win after going five innings and scattering four hits and a walk while allowing one earned run.

The win was the 500th victory for Head Coach Patrick McCarthy at Faulkner and 658th of his collegiate coaching career. McCarthy's Faulkner team (47-10) play No. 2 seed Central Methodist Tuesday at 3 p.m. Olivet Nazarene (35-15) plays again at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the winner of the elimination game between No. 3 seed Hope International and No. 4 seed Jarvis Christian.