MONMOUTH, Ore. – Northwest Nazarene softball bounced back from a rough start to the day to rout Western Oregon in an elimination game and advance to Saturday's GNAC Championships final against Western Washington.
NNU fell to WWU 9-0 in today's opener, leading to a must-win game two in order to stay alive in the tournament. The Nighthawks flipped the script, this time winning by a 9-0 score over the Wolves.
NNU will now square off with Western Washington again tomorrow in the finals at noon. If WWU wins, they are conference champions, but an NNU win would force a second game shortly after to determine the champion.
Game One: WWU 9, NNU 0 (5 inn.)
NNU could not get anything going from the plate against Western Washington's Anna Kasner, falling victim to a no-hitter from the Vikings' ace. The Nighthawks only managed one baserunner, coming with two outs in the bottom of the fifth when
Abigail Gagnon was hit by a pitch. Kasner finished with 12 strikeouts over the five innings.
WWU jumped on NNU starter
Tori Hensley early with two solo homers in the top of the first. The Vikings tacked on four more in the third off reliever
Gina Skinner before adding a three-spot in the top of the fifth.
After the Nighthawks failed to score in the bottom of the inning, WWU took the 9-0 victory via the run rule.
Game Two: NNU 9, WOU 0 (5 inn.)
Sidney Booth nearly matched Kasner's dominance in game two, allowing just a single hit through five innings in the circle. Eleven of the 15 outs came via the strikeout.
All of the Nighthawks' runs came in the first three innings as they scored twice in the first, three times in the second, and four times in the third.
Maia McNicoll started things off with an RBI single to left, followed by an RBI single from
Tori Hensley.
In the second,
Ivy Hommel brought home
Madison Felter with an infield single and then Booth helped her own cause with a two-run single to left. Finally, in the third,
Emma Mulligan scored
Abigail Gagnon with a double and Hommel followed with a three-run homer to left.
Hommel finished the game 2-3 with four RBI and two runs scored, while Mulligan was 3-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. The duo combined for five of NNU's nine hits.