IRVINE, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene softball's 2021 season came to a close on Thursday at the NCAA DII West Regional, falling to Biola 4-3 before dropping the nightcap to Concordia Irvine 9-0.
The Nighthawks made history this year, equaling the program record for wins in a season while taking their first-ever NCAA Championships victory with a 2-1 win over Central Washington yesterday.
NNU had arguably the best season in program history, finishing the campaign with an overall record of 31-14 and an 11-5 mark in conference play, good enough to claim the GNAC regular season title for the second time in school history. NNU was in and out of the NFCA Top 25 all season, either No. 25 or receiving votes in every poll for the last two months. Prior to the regional tournament, the Nighthawks ranked in the top 20 nationally in batting average, hits, doubles, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and shutouts.
The Nighthawks showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in the future, and will return the majority of the team next season as they look to continue operating at a high level of success.
Game One: Biola 4, NNU 3
Biola struck first with a run on an error in the top of the first inning, but NNU starter
Sidney Booth would settle down over the next few innings and keep the score at 1-0 through three innings.
The Eagles would add on three more in the bottom of the fourth inning, though, taking a 4-0 lead that would last until the sixth. In the top of that frame, the Nighthawks started a comeback attempt with two outs as
Maia McNicoll walked and
Tori Hensley singled before
Madison Felter drilled a three-run homer to cut the deficit to one.
NNU was able to get a runner on third in the top of the seventh, but could not push the tying run across as Biola held on for the 4-3 win.
Booth finished with six innings of work, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with six strikeouts.
Game Two: Concordia Irvine 9, NNU 0 (5 inn.)
NNU starter
Tori Hensley held top-seeded Concordia Irvine off the scoreboard in the first inning, but the Eagles rallied for six runs in the bottom of the second to take a big early lead.
The Nighthawks put two runners on in three of the five innings, but could not come up with the clutch hit as they left five stranded in the game.
The Eagles added three more runs across the third and fourth to take a nine-run advantage, and took the victory in five innings via the run rule.
Abigail Gagnon had two of NNU's four hits in the game.
