NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene softball's bats came alive in the final doubleheader of the regular season on Friday, sweeping Simon Fraser in a pair of five-inning games, 10-1 and 13-4.
The Nighthawks improve to 30-18 overall and 18-6 in GNAC play, clinching the GNAC regular season title with the victories.
NNU entered the day tied with Saint Martin's atop the GNAC standings, but the Saints' doubleheader at Western Washington was rained out and postponed to Sunday. SMU then went 1-1 against WWU, falling behind NNU by one game in the final standings.
Game One
Simon Fraser found a run first, scoring on an RBI triple in the top of the third inning. NNU would answer back in the bottom of the frame, though, tallying six runs with two swings of the bat as
Sidney Booth launched a two-run homer before
Charlotte Forniss drilled a grand slam to make it 6-1.
NNU added another run in the fourth on an RBI double from
Maia McNicoll, before tallying three more in the fifth to run-rule SFU on an
Emma Mulligan RBI double and
Ivy Hommel walk-off two-run homer.
Booth tossed all five innings in the circle, allowing just the one run on five hits while striking out seven. Five Nighthawks had multi-hit games with two apiece from Hommel, McNicoll,
Tori Hensley,
Madison Felter, and
Kellcie Adams.
Game Two
The offense was alive for both teams in the first inning of the second game, with Simon Fraser tallying three in the top of the first before NNU came back with six in the bottom of the inning.
McNicoll started the scoring with a three-run double, followed by a run on an error, one on a wild pitch, and finally an RBI single from Adams.
SFU cut the deficit to two with a solo homer in the second, but NNU then built the lead out to five in the fourth on an RBI double from Booth, RBI triple from McNicoll, and sacrifice fly from Hensley.
In the fifth, senior
Ashley Bliss started a rally with a one-out single, and three batters later, McNicoll ended the game with a two-out grand slam to win 13-4 via the run rule.
McNicoll had three hits and a whopping eight of the Nighthawks' 11 RBIs in the game. Hensley threw all five innings for the win, allowing just one earned run and striking out three.
Next Up
As mentioned, the Nighthawks will head to the GNAC Championships as the top overall seed, facing four-seed Central Washington at 2:30 p.m. Pacific. The tournament will be hosted by Saint Martin's in Lacey, Wash. from May 5-7.
