NAMPA - Chelsey Anderson led Northwest Nazarene to a pair of victories over nationally 19th ranked Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletuc Conference softball tripleheader Saturday at Halle Field in Nampa.
Anderson sparked the Crusaders (6-22, 6-17) with her bat in the first contest and then starred in the circle in the second game as NNU earned 5-3 and 3-1 victories before losing the final game 14-4.
Even that one, however, was close until the Wildcats (19-10, 14-5) put eight runs on the board in the seventh inning after leading by only two runs after six.
Anderson had three hits in eight at bats and drove in three runs on the day. In the first game, CWU led 3-0 until the fourth when Anderson hit a two-run home run and Kristin Refsland had a pinch-hit RBI single to tie it.
The Crusaders then won it in the fifth getting a RBI single from Catherine Lowery and a sacrifice fly by Arielle Chao. Nicole Grummons gave up seven hits and three runs to record the victory.
In the second game, Anderson pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing four hits and a seventh-inning run. She walked six hitters including two in the seventh before Grummons came on and got the final out to leave the bases loaded.
Samantha Petrich had five RBI and Danielle Monson and Ashley Fix each had four hits to lead Central as the Wildcats salvaged a win in the final game. Fix also had four RBI.
Petrich doubled for two runs in the third, had a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a two-run single in the seventh. Fix singled for two runs in the first and also had RBI singles in the third and seventh. The seventh also featured a three-run pinch-hit home run by Elena Carter.
It was CWU's second home run on the day as Kelsey Haupert slammed her GNAC-leading ninth four-bagger in the third inning of the opener.
Monson, who extended her GNAC and school record hitting streak to 28 games, and Fix both had six hits on the day for the Wildcats.Emily Renfro had four hits to pace NNU.
The Crusaders will travel to Western Washington University next weekend for a four-game GNAC series.
