BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene softball split with Montana State Billings on Saturday, but with a 3-1 series victory the Nighthawks still did enough to clinch the 2021 GNAC Softball Regular Season Title when the day was over.
With a 6-2 win and a 9-2 loss, NNU moved to 11-5 (.688) in conference action. The next two teams in the standings, Central Washington and Western Washington, still have two games to play, but either team winning out would still finish with a lower win percentage than the Nighthawks.
NNU will now take their top seed into next weekend's GNAC Championships, set to begin on May 6 in Monmouth, Oregon. The Nighthawks' opponent is yet to be determined based on outcomes across the GNAC tomorrow.
Game One: NNU 6, MSUB 2
The Nighthawks got on the board first in the top of the third on an
Emma Mulligan homer, but the Yellowjackets responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead.
The score would not change until the sixth, when NNU finally broke through for a four-spot, starting with an
Ivy Hommel solo home run.
Dominique Trevino gave the Nighthawks the lead after scoring on an error, and an RBI single by
Madison Strickler, a sacrifice fly from
Madison Felter, and
Abigail Gagnon scoring on an error made it 6-2.
Jackie Vargas started for NNU in the circle and went four innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out four.
Tori Hensley entered in relief, and ended the game with three scoreless innings to earn the win.
Hensley,
Maia McNicoll, and
Sidney Booth each had two hits for NNU.
Game Two: MSUB 9, NNU 2
The Nighthawks opened the scoring again in game two, with
Brittany Genuardi driving in Mulligan in the top of the first. MSUB responded with eight runs in the bottom of the inning, though, including a grand slam and a three-run homer.
Nicole Zuvela tacked on an NNU run with an RBI groundout in the fifth, but that was all that the Nighthawks would get as they dropped the regular-season finale.
After finishing game one and earning the win, Hensley started game two but couldn't get out of the first inning. Booth pitched one inning in relief before
Gina Skinner tossed the final 4.1 frames, allowing just two hits in a scoreless effort.
Strickler and Genuardi each had two hits for NNU, combining for four of the team's five hits.