NAMPA, Idaho - Northwest Nazarene softball will look to continue their historic 2022 season this week when they travel to San Marcos, California for the NCAA DII West Regional from Thursday, May 12 to Saturday, May 14.

For softball, the NCAA splits each regional into two pods, with the winner of each pod advancing to a best-of-three series against each other the following week to determine the regional champion. NNU's pod is made up of the 1-seed Cal State San Marcos Cougars, 4-seed Sonoma State Seawolves, and 5-seed Cal State Monterey Bay Otters.

The eighth-seeded Nighthawks will open the regional against the top-seed and host Cal State San Marcos at noon Pacific time on Thursday, May 12. With the regional having a double-elimination format, regardless of a win or loss in that game NNU will play again on Friday, either at 10:00 a.m. (win) or 12:30 p.m. (loss). 

The other pod in the West Region includes 2-seed Concordia (CA), 3-seed Chico State, 6-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills, and 7-seed Azusa Pacific. NNU is the only GNAC team to be selected for the regional, with five coming from the CCAA and two from the PacWest.

Nighthawks Notes
The Nighthawks (34-19, 18-6 GNAC) earned the automatic bid from the GNAC after winning four-straight elimination games to capture the conference title. As the top seed, NNU fell to 4-seed Central Washington in the opener but then rallied to defeat 3-seed Western Washington, Central Washington, and then 2-seed Saint Martin's twice to claim the title. In the five games of the tournament, the Nighthawks' pitching allowed just three earned runs in 34 innings in the circle.

This marks the second year in a row and third in the last four full seasons that NNU softball has advanced to the NCAA Regionals. In 2018, the Nighthawks made their inaugural appearance and went 0-2, falling to Chico State and UC San Diego. A season ago in 2021, NNU won their opening game at the regional over Central Washington before getting eliminated with losses to eventual national runner-up Biola and regional top seed Concordia (CA). 

The Nighthawks have already set new program records as a team with 34 wins, 299 runs scored, 209 walks, and 307 pitching strikeouts. NNU leads the region with a .387 on-base percentage and 209 walks, and is second with 5.64 runs per game and 25 home runs.

Sidney Booth is the two-way star for the Nighthawks, earning GNAC Pitcher of the Year honors with a league-leading 1.76 ERA and 198 strikeouts while also ranking third in the conference in batting average (.384), first in on-base percentage (.495), and third in RBIs (47). Her on-base percentage also leads the West Region and RBI mark ranks sixth.

Ivy Hommel, Maia McNicoll, and Charlotte Forniss also earned First Team All-GNAC honors, with Forniss also receiving the GNAC Freshman of the Year award. Hommel is second in the region with 1.06 runs scored per game, setting a new NNU single-season program record with 56 runs, and ranks sixth with 21 stolen bases. McNicoll leads the region and ranks ninth in the nation with her 62 RBIs, while also tied for the regional lead with 11 home runs. Forniss has excelled in a utility role in her first year, batting .304 at first base or designated player while also recording a 3.03 ERA in 39.1 innings in the circle.

Two Nighthawks also earned Second Team All-GNAC honors in Tori Hensley and Abigail Gagnon.  

Scouting Cal State San Marcos
The Cougars (40-11, 28-8 CCAA) received an at-large bid and the top overall seed due to their regular season resume. Against the other seven teams in the regional, CSUSM has gone 14-6 this year. They won the CCAA regular season title and entered the conference tournament as the top seed, winning their opening game before falling to the other two teams in this pod, Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay, to be eliminated in the semifinals.

This will be the first NCAA Regionals appearance for CSUSM after the Cougars transitioned from NAIA to NCAA DII in the 2017-18 season. The Nighthawks and Cougars have also never played each other in program histories.

Ranked 11th in the nation, CSUSM has a very potent offensive attack, leading the region with a team batting average of .324 and 5.92 runs per game and ranking second with a .381 on-base percentage. They are also fifth with a 2.38 ERA. 

Individually, the Cougars have the CCAA Newcomer of the Year in first baseman Paige Donnelly and the Freshman of the Year in utility/pitcher Savannah Coyle. Outfielder Bianca Gutierrez joins those two on the First Team, while third baseman Nikki Andelin and pitcher Jayline Sloss earned Second Team honors.

Donnelly leads the region with a .442 batting average, with Gutierrez fourth at .408 and Coyle ninth at .398. Donnelly also leads the region with a .752 slugging percentage, and ranks second with a .493 on-base percentage and 54 RBIs

Coyle is also sixth in the region with a 1.51 ERA and is tied for first in the region and third in the nation with five saves.

Scouting Sonoma State
The Seawolves (40-16, 24-12 CCAA) earned their second-straight CCAA Tournament Championship after entering as the four-seed and winning all four of their games to take the crown. In the four games, their offense averaged 11 runs per game including a CCAA Championships record 16 in their opening win over Cal State East Bay. They also defeated 2-seed Chico State 6-5, top seed Cal State San Marcos 12-8, and finished with a 10-5 victory over their opening opponent in the West Regional, Cal State Monterey Bay.

Sonoma State will head to the regional for the 13th time in program history, including a stretch of nine in a row from 2009 to 2017. After missing in 2018, the Seawolves made it back in their last opportunity in 2019, with the CCAA taking the last two years off due to COVID. In the 12 previous seasons, Sonoma has gone 14-24, with their deepest run coming in 2015 when they won three-straight games to take their regional pod and advanced to the West Super Regional before falling to Dixie State.

The Nighthawks defeated the Seawolves 7-2 in a matchup at the beginning of this season at the Concordia Kickoff Classic. Booth was the star for NNU, striking out six in the complete-game victory while also driving in three runs at the plate. NNU is 3-5 all-time against Sonoma, with two of those three wins coming in the last two meetings. 

Receiving votes in the latest national poll, the Seawolves lead the region and are eighth nationally with 24 triples, and are second in the region in slugging percentage, fourth in doubles, fourth in home runs, fourth in stolen bases, sixth in runs per game, and eighth in ERA.

Sonoma earned two First Team All-CCAA selections in shortstop Cassidy Romano and outfielder Anna Zoia-Buescher. Three Seawolves also received Second Team honors, with catcher Jordyn Martinez, second baseman Giana Hays, and pitcher Camille Rodriguez making the squad.

Zoia-Buescher leads the team and ranks sixth in the region with a .402 batting average and Martinez is tied for fourth regionally with 48 RBIs. Romano is tied for first regionally and tied for third nationally with eight triples, while Hays, Martinez, and Zoia-Buescher each have four triples on the year.

Scouting Cal State Monterey Bay
The Otters (37-21, 18-18 CCAA) were the fifth seed in the CCAA tournament, but were able to win four out of five games to reach the CCAA title game, where they fell to Sonoma State, which was enough to supplement their resume and get into the regional with an at-large bid. The run included an 8-6 victory over top seed Cal State San Marcos. 

This marks the eighth appearance in the NCAA West Regional for CSUMB, with their last appearance coming in 2017. Overall in tournament play, the Otters are 5-15, with their deepest tournament run coming in 2014 when they won their pod and advanced to the West Super Regional before dropping two games to Dixie State.

The Otters and Nighthawks played earlier this season at the Tournament of Champions in Turlock, with CSUMB taking a 6-1 victory after scoring all six runs in the fifth inning or later. In program history against CSUMB, NNU is 0-6 in six neutral site contests. 

Cal State Monterey Bay is third in the region in batting average, third in doubles, fourth in ERA, fifth in on-base percentage, and second in triples. 

The Otters received three All-CCAA honors, with pitcher Jensen Main and DP Haylee Clay on the First Team and outfielder Jessica Cross on the Second Team. Main is third in the region with three complete games, sixth with 133 strikeouts, and ninth with a 1.74 ERA. 


Full Regional Schedule
*all times Pacific

Thursday, May 12
12:00 PM          Game 1             #1 CSU San Marcos vs #8 Northwest Nazarene
2:30 PM            Game 2             #4 Sonoma State vs #5 CSU Monterey Bay

Friday, May 13
10:00 AM          Game 3             Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2
12:30 PM          Game 4             Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2
3:00 PM            Game 5             Winner of Game 4 vs Loser of Game 3

Saturday, May 14
11:00 AM          Game 6             Winner of Game 3 vs Winner of Game 5
1:30 PM            Game 7             Winner of Game 6 vs Loser of Game 6 (if necessary)