LACEY, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene softball came up on the short end of a pair of important GNAC contests on Friday, falling to Saint Martin's 1-0 and 5-3.
With the losses, the Nighthawks fall to 13-5 in conference play and 25-17 overall. NNU and SMU entered the day tied atop the GNAC standings, but the Saints now take a two-game lead at 15-3.
Game One
Saint Martin's tallied the only run of the game early, scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, a Saint was hit by a pitch before coming all the way around from first to score on an error by the Nighthawks' infield.
NNU's best scoring chance came in the top of the fourth, when
Ivy Hommel led off with a single and then
Sidney Booth and
Maia McNicoll both walked to load the bases with no outs. They would all be stranded, though, as the side was retired on an infield fly, strikeout, and foul out to first.
Booth pitched all six innings for NNU, allowing the one unearned run on just two hits while striking out six. The Nighthawks had just two hits on their side as well, coming off the bats of Hommel and
Tori Hensley.
Game Two
SMU got on the board first again in the second game, scoring on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the first. The Saints added another run in the fourth on a wild pitch, going up 2-0.
The Nighthawks would finally break through for their first run of the game in the top of the fifth, as
Emma Mulligan led off the frame with a double to left and came home to score on a single from Hommel. NNU would score twice more before the end of the inning to take a 3-2 lead, with both runs crossing the plate on a two-out double from
Abigail Gagnon.
The lead would not last long, though, as the Saints tied it up at three in the bottom of the inning. Still tied in the bottom of the seventh, SMU's Kekai Schultz hit a two-run, walkoff home run to give the Saints the win.
Hensley started in the circle for NNU, going 4.2 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out eight. Booth pitched 1.2 innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
NNU had seven hits in game two, with three from Gagnon and two coming from Mulligan.
Next Up
The Nighthawks and Saints have two more games tomorrow, as NNU will look to salvage a series split and draw back even with SMU with one more weekend to go in the regular season.
