MONMOUTH, Ore. – Northwest Nazarene softball dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season on Friday, falling to Western Oregon 4-3 and 13-9 (11 innings).
The Nighthawks and Wolves will finish out the series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.
Game One: WOU 4, NNU 3
The Nighthawks got on the board right away in game one, as
Sidney Booth singled home
Ivy Hommel in the top of the first inning. An inning later, Western Oregon tied things up with a solo homer.
In the fourth, NNU took back the lead with a sacrifice fly from
Tori Hensley and then added one more in the fifth with doubling home Hommel to make it 3-1. A two-run bomb for the Wolves tied things back up in the bottom of the sixth, though, and WOU then took the lead on a wild pitch to make it 4-3. NNU had the tying run reach base in the top of the seventh, but couldn't bring it around to score.
Booth started the game in the circle and went 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out eight. Hommel, Genuardi, and Gagnon each had two hits for the Nighthawks.
Game Two: WOU 13, NNU 9 (11 innings)
In the second game, NNU starter
Tori Hensley put zeros on the board through the first four innings, leading to a 5-0 lead for the Nighthawks after the top of the fifth. NNU's runs came on a
Maia McNicoll solo homer in the second, a
Sidney Booth three-run shot in the fourth, and a two-RBI single from
Emma Mulligan in the fifth.
The Wolves pushed across four runs in the bottom of the fifth, though, and after NNU got one back in the top of the sixth, WOU added three more in the bottom of the frame to tie things up at seven.
NNU had the bases loaded in their half, but neither team would score in the seventh inning, sending the game to extras. The score would remain 7-7 through the eighth and ninth innings as well, invoking the 10
th inning rule of starting with a runner on second base.
Both teams brought their runner on second home in the 10
th and 11
th innings, but Western Oregon then hit a walk-off grand slam in the 11
th to win it 13-9.
Mulligan got on base five times with two hits and three walks, while
Ivy Hommel, McNicoll, and
Madison Felter all added two hits.