NAMPA, Idaho – Wildcats pitcher Maria Gau and first baseman Maikala Galusha spoiled Senior Day for the Northwest Nazarene softball team Saturday, sweeping the Crusaders in a pair Great Northwest Athletic Conference games at Halle Field in Nampa, Idaho. 

Gau struck out 12 in a dominating effort in the circle as Central Washington won the first game of the GNAC  doubleheader 3-2, and Galusha's two-run home run broke a tie in the second game as the Wildcats completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory on the NNU campus.

In the opener, Galusha's two-out, two-run single in the top of the first inning gave the Wildcats (18-13 overall, 12-6 GNAC) a 2-0 lead.

The Crusaders (5-35 overall, 0-20 GNAC) cut into the lead as Brianna Kinghorn hit her fifth home run of the season, a solo shot over the scoreboard in left field in the bottom of the second.

Gau (8-8), and Crusader pitcher Noelle Wright (5-30), settled into a pitcher's duel until Rachel O'Neill's pinch-hit double over the head of NNU left fielder Kayla Fadenrecht chased home Andrea Hamada, who led off the sixth inning with a single.

Trailing 3-1 headed to their final at-bat, the Crusaders' Kayla Sevier singled and Kira Varady walked, but Alexa Olague threw out Sevier out home for the second out of the inning to preserve the two-run cushion.

After a Kendra Day infield RBI single trimmed the margin to 3-2, Jill McDaniels snagged a line drive at second to end the ballgame.

Galusha led the Wildcats at the plate in the opener, going 4-for-4.

Central Washington plated two more in the first inning of the nightcap as McDaniels and Galusha each had an RBI single.

The Crusaders rallied with two unearned runs in the fourth as Varady singled in pinch-runner Aubree Shepherd and Fadenrecht tied the game with an RBI single to right that scored Wright.

After a lead-off single by McDaniels in the top of the sixth inning, Galusha snapped the tie with her fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center.

The Wildcats tacked on two more unearned runs in the rally, and McDaniels singled and scored on an error in the seventh.

Galusha was 2-for-4 in the second game and finished the day 6-for-8 with a home run and four RBIs for the Wildcats.

Heidy Wells (8-3) struck out six in six innings work in the circle to earn the win in the second game for the Wildcats.

Saturday was the home finale for NNU seniors Michelle Crumbaker, Baylee Jolliffe and Fadenrecht. Crumbaker had a pair of hits in the second game for NNU, while Jolliffe and Fadenrecht each added a single for the Crusaders, who close out the season with doubleheaders on April 26 at Western Oregon and April 27 at St. Martin's.