SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene baseball came up short in both games as Point Loma Nazarene took a 12-1 victory in game one and a 7-4 victory in game two.
The Nighthawks are now 0-4 to begin the season.
Game One
The Nighthawks sent seven men to the plate in the top of the 1
st inning and got out to a 1-0 lead.
Tyler Best had the only hit of the inning, but thanks to a couple of walks, the bases were loaded for
Matthew Reynolds. Reynolds turned a ball around toward left field for a sac fly.
The top of the 1
st would be NNU's only lead of the game, as PLNU would send 11 men to the plate in the bottom half and take an 8-1 lead.
The Sea Lions coasted the rest of the way to a 12-1 victory.
NNU's starter
Wade Duncan received the loss after throwing 0.2 innings and allowing six runs on three hits in his collegiate debut.
Henry Clark threw 3.0 innings of relief, in which he allowed four runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
Freshman
Kailer Saunders and
Blake Hammond made their collegiate pitching debuts as well. Saunders allowed just one unearned run on two hits in 2.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts. Hammond threw 2.0 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts as well.
Game Two
NNU scored first for the third straight game, taking a 1-0 lead in the 3
rd inning.
Kyle Payne hit a double down the left field line and
Colby Moran brought him around to score with a single to right center.
Point Loma answered back in the bottom of the 3
rd with a home run from the leadoff batter that inning. They went on to score two more runs to generate a 3-1 lead.
Nighthawks'
Rumble Reyes stepped up to the plate with two outs in the top of the 4
th inning and hit a home run on the first pitch he saw to cut the Sea Lions' lead down to 3-2.
PLNU answered back again with two runs coming after three consecutive singles to start off the bottom of the 4
th inning.
In the top of the 5
th, Payne drew a two-out walk which brought Moran up to the plate. Moran delivered with a home run to right field that put the Nighthawks back within one run at 5-4.
The Sea Lions tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of 6
th inning to help give them the 7-4 win.
Kyle Ethridge received the loss after throwing 3.0 innings. He allowed three runs on five hits and collected one strikeout.
Shane Martin followed up Ethridge, throwing 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with one strikeout.
Jonathan Zayas threw 1.1 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits with one strike out as well.
On Deck
The Nighthawks are set to finish their series with one final game on Monday against Point Loma Nazarene. First pitch of the single game is scheduled for 2:00 PM PT.
