ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene baseball took both games of Saturday's doubleheader over Central Washington, 13-10 and 11-4, to win the GNAC-opening series 3-1.
Game One
Central got on the board first in the high-scoring opener, putting two up in the bottom of the first inning. NNU bounced back with two of their own in the top of the second, as
Alex Salsman connected for a two-run homer.
NNU then took the lead in the top of the third with three runs as
Tyler Best brought home two with a triple and then scored on a
Colton Moore single to make it 5-2.
The game seesawed back to the Wildcats, though, adding one in the bottom of the third and then four in the fourth to put CWU on top 7-5. It was then NNU's turn to rally, scoring two in both the fifth and sixth innings to go back up 9-7.
Colton Moore and Salsman tallied the RBIs in the fifth, while
Rumble Reyes and Best each had RBI doubles in the sixth.
CWU got one back in the bottom of the sixth to cut the NNU advantage to one, 9-8, but the Nighthawks would then hit three solo homers over the next two innings.
Kyle Payne launched one in the seventh and then
Grant Kerry and Reyes went back-to-back with one out in the eighth, putting the Nighthawks up 12-8.
The lead grew to 13-8 in the ninth on an RBI double from
Duke Pahukoa. The Wildcats clawed back for two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late as NNU took the 13-10 win.
Reyes and
Parker Price both had three hits in the game, while Best and Payne each tallied two. Best and Salsman recorded three RBIs apiece. Out of their 15 hits, NNU had nine for extra-bases with four doubles, a triple and four home runs.
Haden Keller started for NNU, allowing seven runs but only four earned in 3.2 innings.
Blake McFadden tossed 3.1 innings of relief and earned the win, just one run on two hits while striking out four.
Max Holtzclaw pitched two innings to earn the save, allowing one earned run with three strikeouts.
Game Two
NNU's offense broke the second game open early, scoring 10-straight runs in the first four innings to take a big lead. Pahukoa started things off with a three-run homer in the second and was followed by an RBI double from Price.
The Nighthawks added two in the third, with Payne earning an RBI single and
Matthew Reynolds notching a sacrifice fly. Four more came across in the top of the fourth, as Price, Salsman, Keller, and Payne all recorded RBIs.
The Wildcats would finally get on the board in the bottom of the fourth with two runs and added two more in the sixth. That was not nearly enough to amount to any sort of a comeback, though, as NNU added one more to their total with an RBI single from Salsman in the fifth.
Spencer Schwehr got the win on the mound, going 5.1 innings and allowing two earned runs with four strikeouts.
Nick Irwin tossed the final 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs while striking out three.
Price and Payne both had three hits, while Kerry, Salsman, and
Quentin Ayers each had two. Pahukoa finished with three RBIs with Price, Salsman, and Payne also adding two RBIs apiece.
Next Up
The Nighthawks will return home and continue GNAC play next weekend, hosting Saint Martin's in a four-game series on March 11 and 12.
