BURNABY, B.C. – Northwest Nazarene softball will have their sights set on defending their GNAC title from last season when they go into the 2023 GNAC Championships as the top seed this weekend from May 4-6 at Simon Fraser's Beedie Field.
The GNAC Championships begin on Thursday with No. 2 Saint Martin's facing No. 3 Western Washington at noon Pacific. No. 1 Northwest Nazarene will face No. 4 Western Oregon at 2:30 p.m. The tournament concludes with the championship game on Saturday at noon.
The Nighthawks won their third consecutive regular-season title with an impressive 21-3 conference mark and enter the GNAC Championships with a 33-15 overall record. NNU is on a seven-game win streak and went 15-3 in the month of April.
While leading the GNAC with a 2.07 ERA and ranking fourth with a .273 batting average, NNU finished with a 1.60 ERA and a .309 batting average in conference play, leading the GNAC in both categories. The Nighthawks outscored GNAC teams 140-46 and limited opponents to a .227 batting average.
Senior Tori Hensley leads NNU both in the circle and at the plate. She ranks second in the GNAC with a 1.94 ERA, compiling a 14-5 record, and ranks third in the conference with a .373 batting average and is fourth with 57 hits. Junior Sidney Booth continues to be a two-way threat in 2023, ranking third in the conference with a 1.98 ERA and sharing the GNAC lead with 16 wins. At the plate, Booth is hitting .271 with 39 hits and 28 RBIs.
Senior Maia McNicoll, the newly minted GNAC Player of the Year, enters the championships with a .299 batting average. She leads the conference with 41 RBIs, ranks second in the GNAC with 86 total bases, is fourth with a .585 slugging percentage and is tied for fourth with 12 doubles. Sophomore Clarissa Moreno is batting .293 and is tied for fourth in the GNAC with 33 runs scored.
NNU is 10-5 (.667) all-time in GNAC tournament games, the best winning percentage in the conference. This is the fifth-straight year that NNU has qualified for the GNAC Championships for softball, going 3-0 to win the title in 2018, 1-2 in 2019, 2-2 in 2021, and 4-1 to claim the title last season.
Tickets are available now by visiting GNACTickets.com. Single-session tickets are $12 (USD) for adults and $7 (USD) for seniors (60 and over), students and youth ages 6-14. Children five and under are admitted free. All games of the GNAC Softball Championships will be live-streamed through the conference's YouTube page at GNAC.tv.
The 2023 GNAC Softball Championships will be just the third NCAA conference championship to be held outside of the United States. Simon Fraser previously hosted the GNAC Women's Soccer Championships in 2015 and 2016.
GNAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 4-6 at Beedie Field, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.
Thurs., May 4
Game 1: No. 2 Saint Martin's vs. No. 3 Western Washington, Noon
Game 2: Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 4 Western Oregon, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Fri., May 5
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, Noon
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Sat., May 6
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 2:30 p.m.
