NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene baseball split a doubleheader with Central Washington on Friday, falling 4-2 in game one before taking game two 7-2.
NNU moves to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the GNAC, while CWU moves to 5-5 and 4-5 in conference play.
The Nighthawks and Wildcats will wrap up the series with two more games tomorrow.
Game One – CWU 4, NNU 2
NNU couldn't quite get the bats going in game one, scoring two runs in the first inning but getting shut out the rest of the way by the Wildcats.
Grant Kerry and
Ben Johnson both picked up RBI singles in the inning to take the early lead.
Central Washington tied things up in the top of the second, though, and would take the lead on a sacrifice fly in the third. Nothing came across between the fourth and sixth innings, but the Wildcats added an insurance run in the seventh on a solo homer.
NNU got two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but could not push any runs across as they fell 4-2.
Shane Martin was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs in two innings of work.
Ty Hueckman pitched well in relief, going four innings and allowing just two hits and no runs with five strikeouts.
Ryan Dearing had two hits to lead the Nighthawks offense.
Game 2 – NNU 7, CWU 2
All of the second game's runs came in the first two innings, starting with CWU adding two in the first on a two-run single. NNU's offense came alive in the bottom of the inning, though, putting up five runs.
John Gonzalez picked up the first RBI with a sacrifice fly to score Dearing. Kerry and Johnson followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Nighthawks a 3-2 lead. Johnson then scored on a wild pitch and
Walker Moore knocked in a run with a single, extending the advantage to three.
Kerry recorded his third and fourth RBI of the day in the bottom of the second, launching a two-run homer to left to make it 7-2. Pitching held strong for both sides the rest of the game, with the Nighthawks earning the win by that same score.
Kyle Ethridge started and got the win for NNU, going five innings with two runs allowed on five hits while striking out ten. Kerry and Moore both had two hits to pace the offense.
