NAMPA, Idaho - Northwest Nazarene softball is on a roll. NNU has now won eight straight after two more victories over Saint Martin's on Saturday to sweep the four-game set against the Saints.
NNU's offense was held below its regular standard on the year, but it did not matter in the slightest as the duo of
Jackie Vargas and
Sidney Booth shut out the Saints across the two games, with the Nighthawks winning 4-0 and 3-0. Saint Martin's managed just seven hits total on the afternoon.
With the wins, NNU improves to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in GNAC play. Saint Martin's falls to 8-8 on the year and 0-4 in the conference.
The Nighthawks will be home for the fifth-straight weekend next Friday and Saturday, hosting Western Oregon for four more GNAC contests.
Game One: NNU 4, SMU 0
Vargas earned the dominant win in the first game of the day, going all seven innings for the shutout, allowing just five hits and striking out eight.Â
NNU got two of their runs in the first inning, as
Maia McNicoll drew a bases-loaded walk and Booth drove a sacrifice fly to right to score
Ivy Hommel.
The Nighthawks tacked on another run in the third with McNicoll scoring on a fielder's choice off the bat of
Madison Strickler. NNU's final run came in the fifth on an RBI single from
Emilie Hernandez.
Gina Skinner was 2-3 from the plate in the game to lead the Nighthawk offense.
Game Two: NNU 3, SMU 0
The first three innings of the second game flew by with no runs scored on either side. NNU broke the scoreless tie in the fourth, as McNicoll and
Abigail Gagnon both drove in runs with RBI singles.Â
NNU would add one more insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single from
Nicole Zuvela, but the Nighthawks would have only needed one run to earn the victory with the performance put on by starter
Sidney Booth.
Booth went the distance, earning the complete game shutout while allowing just two hits and striking out five. The SMU hits came in the first and seventh innings, with Booth retiring 17 hitters in a row between the lone Saints that reached base.
Booth also had two hits from the plate, both going for extra bases with a double and a triple.
