GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Northwest Nazarene baseball's season-opening offensive outburst did not carry over to Saturday's game against No. 2/5 Colorado Mesa, falling to the Mavericks 5-0.
 
After tallying 47 runs in the previous three games of the weekend and 63 over the last four contests, the Nighthawk offense went quiet with just five hits, all for singles.
 
Even still, it was a great three days in Colorado for NNU, as the Nighthawks went 3-1 including a rout of the highly-ranked Mavericks on Thursday. After the weekend, NNU now stands at 6-2 on the year heading into conference play.
 
The game was scoreless through the first three innings, but Colorado Mesa broke out for four runs in the fourth and added one more in the seventh to earn the win.
 
Sasha Jabusch got the start for NNU, going four innings and allowing four runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Joseph Ihli tossed the next three innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits while striking out three. Haden Keller finished the game on the mound with a 1-2-3 eighth.
 
Ryan Dearing was the lone bright spot in the lineup, going 2-2 and drawing two walks to reach base in all four of his plate appearances.
 
The Nighthawks will now begin GNAC play in two weeks, hosting MSU-Billings for four games on March 12 and 13.