NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene softball outscored Western Oregon by a combined margin of 21-2 on Saturday to sweep the doubleheader and the four-game series over the Wolves, taking game one 9-1 in six innings and game two 12-1 in five frames.
The Nighthawks improve to 9-10 on the season with GNAC play on the horizon next week.
Game 1
NNU struck first in the bottom of the second with
Madison Felter getting on base with a two-out single and coming home to score on a double from
Charlotte Forniss. The Nighthawks added two more in the third as a
Clarissa Moreno two-run homer put NNU up 3-0.
Western Oregon got one back in the top of the fourth, but NNU erased that run with another score of their own in the fifth as
Jami Obringer tripled and crossed the plate on an RBI groundout off the bat of
Tori Hensley.
Leading 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, the Nighthawks decided they did not want to play the full seven frames as they rallied for five runs on five hits to invoke the run-rule and take a 9-1 victory. Felter,
Mari Kamemoto, Obringer, Moreno, and Hensley all brought home runs in the inning.
In the circle,
Sidney Booth was her usual dominant self, going all six innings with just the one run allowed on four hits while striking out six. Obringer finished the game 3-3 at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI, while Felter and
Abigail Gagnon also had multi-hit games and Moreno drove in three runs.
Game 2
The Nighthawks did not let up in game two, scoring right away in the first on a
Maia McNicoll RBI double before exploding for a seven-run second inning. Hensley, McNicoll, and Gagnon all had two RBIs in the inning and Felter capped it with an RBI single to put NNU up 8-0.
NNU would score in all four of their half-innings, adding two more runs in both the third and fourth frames to invoke the run-rule. After WOU scored one in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 10-1, McNicoll led off the bottom of the inning with a solo homer and another run came home on an error to give NNU an 11-run advantage.
NNU starter
Tori Hensley then set the Wolves down in the top of the fifth to seal the win. Hensley went all five innings, giving up just three hits and an unearned run with one strikeout.
Hensley was also hot at the plate, combining with McNicoll to drive in eight of NNU's 12 runs with each knocking in four. McNicoll finished the game with three hits in three at-bats, while Obringer notched a 2-2 game to make it a 5-5 day overall in the doubleheader for the freshman.
Next Up
NNU will now jump into conference play, hosting Montana State Billings for their first GNAC series next week from March 10-11.
