NAMPA, Idaho - Northwest Nazarene baseball continued their winning ways on Saturday, defeating Central Washington 7-3 and 3-1 to take the conference series three games to one.
With the wins, the 15th-ranked Nighthawks improve to 13-3 on the year and 7-1 in the GNAC. CWU falls to 5-7 overall and 4-7 in conference.
Winners of seven of their last eight, NNU will look to keep the hot streak going next weekend when they visit Saint Martin's for four games on Friday and Saturday.
Game One: NNU 7, CWU 3
NNU jumped on CWU early for two runs in the first inning, with
Colton Moore driving in
Ryan Dearing and then scoring on an RBI double from
Grant Kerry. The Nighthawks extended their lead to three in the fourth inning on a
Ben Johnson RBI single, before a two-run blast by Kerry made it 5-0 in the fifth.
The Wildcats got two back in the sixth, but NNU responded with a pair of runs in the seventh on a two-RBI single from
Quentin Ayers to build the lead to 7-2. CWU scraped out a run in the top of the ninth, but NNU came away with the 7-3 victory.
Ben Johnson got the win on the mound, going 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on just four hits, with three walks and five strikeouts.
Blake McFadden tossed a scoreless inning and a third, before
Max Holtzclaw finished the final two innings for NNU.
Kerry and Dearing both had three hits in the game, with Kerry also notching three RBI.
Shawn Grandmont and
John Gonzalez both added two hits for the Nighthawks.
Game Two: NNU 3, CWU 0
Neither team was able to put anything on the board in the first three innings of game two. NNU broke the deadlock with two runs in the fourth, as
Isaac Hines drove in two with a double to left.
Kerry notched his fourth RBI of the day in the fifth inning, driving in Dearing with a single to add an insurance run. CWU finally got on the board in the top of the seventh, but it would just be a single run as NNU held on for the 3-1 win.
Spencer Schwehr went 5.1 innings of scoreless ball to earn the win, allowing six hits and striking out three.
Joseph Ihli got the next four outs, allowing two hits and the lone Wildcat run.
Nick Irwin entered in a tough spot with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh, but the sophomore was able to escape the jam with a strikeout to seal the win for the Nighthawks.
Dearing had two more hits in the second game, while Johnson added two hits of his own for NNU. With a 5-8 day, Dearing improves his season batting average to an impressive .483 through the 16 games.
