IRVINE, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene softball downed No. 19 Concordia 8-1 in game two of Wednesday's doubleheader to split with the Golden Eagles after a 2-1 (nine-inning) game one loss.
The Nighthawks move to 3-6 on the season with two more games to play on the season-opening California road trip.
Game 1
CUI struck first in the opener with a run in the bottom of the opening inning, with a leadoff single sacrificed over to second and coming around to score on a one-out base hit.
Neither team got anything else going until the fourth inning, when
Clarissa Moreno singled and made her way to second. She then moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt from
Tori Hensley, and came in to score when
Sidney Booth reached on an error to make it 1-1.
That was where the score stayed into extras, until the bottom of the ninth. With runners on second and third, the Golden Eagles found the walk-off hit with a two-out single to center.
Booth pitched all 8.2 innings for the Nighthawks, allowing two runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts.
Madison Felter had two of NNU's four hits in the game.
Game 2
The Nighthawks did not let the Golden Eagles carry over any momentum from the first game of the doubleheader, jumping on CUI starter and multiple-time All-American Callie Nunes for four runs in the first.
Moreno led off the game with a walk and then moved over to third on a fielder's choice off the bat of Hensley that resulted in an error. Booth then blasted a towering three-run homer to right, the Nighthawks' first round-tripper of the season. A few pitches later,
Maia McNicoll belted a solo shot down the line in left to go back-to-back with Booth and put NNU up 4-0.
McNicoll's next plate appearance in the third inning ended with the same result, with the only difference this time being the solo bomb going over the center field fence instead of left. CUI got one back in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
The Nighthawks were not done, however, tallying three more in the sixth on two hits and two errors. With one out, Hensley picked up an RBI on a grounder to third that was booted for an error. Booth then followed with her fourth and fifth RBIs of the game, driving in Moreno and pinch-runner
Lynsey Chiala with a single to right to make it 8-1.
Tori Hensley dazzled in the circle for NNU, allowing just the one run on four hits with six strikeouts in a complete-game win.
Next Up
NNU has two more games in Irvine, facing off with Colorado Christian on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific at Eagles Field on CUI's campus.
