ELLENSBURG, Wash. – In what proved to be the first game of the GNAC Championships final, Northwest Nazarene softball routed Saint Martin's 9-1 in six innings to force a deciding second game.
With both teams now having one loss in the tournament, this final game will determine the GNAC Tournament Champion and who gets the automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA West Regional.
For the third-straight game, a Nighthawks pitcher was excellent in the circle as
Sidney Booth built off her complete game shutout yesterday to hold the Saints to just one run on three hits while striking out four in six innings of work.
Booth retired the first eight batters she faced before issuing a walk with two outs in the third. The Saints got their first hit of the game in the fourth, but the runner was left stranded on first. SMU finally broke through for a run in the fifth on a solo homer to lead off their half inning, but by that time the Nighthawks offense had already put the game out of reach.
NNU got on the board right away in the top of the first as Booth helped her own cause with an RBI single to drive in
Ivy Hommel. The Nighthawks then put up three in the second with a sacrifice fly from
Madison Felter, RBI single from Hommel, and then
Emma Mulligan stealing home on a double steal after Hommel took off for second.
Charlotte Forniss made it 5-0 in the third with a sacrifice fly to bring in
Maia McNicoll from third. The fourth inning was the only frame that the Nighthawks did not score in, and NNU then came out for two runs in both the fifth and sixth frames to earn the run rule victory.
Kellcie Adams had an RBI and Gagnon scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, before Forniss drove in two with a bases-loaded double in the sixth.
Hommel, Forniss, and
Tori Hensley each had two hits, while Forniss led the offense with three runs batted in. Booth and McNicoll also each walked twice.
Next Up
The Nighthawks will take on Saint Martin's one more time momentarily to decide the GNAC Tournament Champion.
