IRVINE, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene softball looks to make some noise at the NCAA West Regionals this weekend, making their third-straight NCAA postseason appearance and fourth out of the last five tournaments.
For softball, the NCAA splits each regional into two pods, with the winner of each pod advancing to Super Regionals, a best-of-three series against each other the following week to determine the region champion.
NNU's pod is made up of the 1-seed Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles, 5-seed Cal State San Bernardino Yotes, and 8-seed Biola Eagles. The Nighthawks will open regional play against San Bernardino in the four/five matchup on Thursday, May 12 at noon Pacific/1 PM Mountain. With the regional having a double-elimination format, regardless of a win or loss in that game NNU will play again on Friday.
The other pod in the West Region includes 2-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills, 3-seed Sonoma State, 6-seed Cal State San Marcos, and 7-seed Azusa Pacific. NNU is the only GNAC team to be selected for the regional, with four coming from the CCAA and three from the PacWest.
Ticket prices are $5 for General Admission, $2 for Kids Ages 3 to 12, and free for Ages 2 and under. An online ticketing link will be available soon. Parking on campus will be free of charge for the entire weekend. Live streaming and live stats will be available online via CUI's portal.
Nighthawks Notes
Four-seed Northwest Nazarene (36-15, 21-3 GNAC) is headed back to the NCAA West Regional after earning their second-straight GNAC Championship last weekend. This is the fourth time in the last five full seasons, and third in a row, that the Nighthawks have qualified for regionals. The Nighthawks have set a new program record for wins in a season, passing last years' total of 35, and will enter the regional having won 10 in a row and with a 17-2 mark since April 2.
NNU went 3-0 at the conference tournament, holding opponents to a miniscule 0.74 ERA with a 2-1 win over Western Oregon, 12-0 win over Saint Martin's, and 3-2 victory over Western Washington in the final. Sidney Booth, a First Team All-GNAC selection for the third year in a row, was named Tournament MVP after throwing 16 of NNU's 19 innings at the championships, including her second no-hitter of the season in the win over SMU.
Booth (1.88 ERA, 18-8 record, 19 complete games, 7 shutouts, 171 IP, 153 Ks, 33 BB | 25 runs, five 2B, 30 RBIs, 26 BB) was joined on the First Team by GNAC Player of the Year and outfielder Maia McNicoll (.310 BA, 31 runs, 12 2B, 11 HR, 45 RBIs, 28 BB), utility/pitcher Tori Hensley (1.90 ERA, 15-5 record, 11 complete games, 136 IP, 93 Ks, 32 BB | .387 BA, 29 runs, six 2B, 26 RBIs), and second baseman Jami Obringer (.303 BA, 28 runs, 20 SB).
Second Team All-GNAC nods went to shortstop Clarissa Moreno (.289 BA, 35 runs, 10 2B, 5 HR, 29 RBIs, 29 BB), third baseman Abigail Gagnon (23 runs, 7 2B, 23 RBIs, 17 BB), and outfielder Madison Felter (.293 BA, 19 runs, 7 2B, 3 HR, 19 RBIs, 8 SB).
As a team, the Nighthawks are fourth in the region with a 2.00 ERA, fourth with 30 home runs, second with a .373 on-base percentage, fifth with 4.65 runs per game, second with a 3.33 strikeout to walk ratio on the pitching side, and lead the West with 188 walks at the plate.
NNU was 2-2 against the other three programs in the pod during the regular season (0-1 vs. Biola, 1-1 vs CUI and 1-0 vs CSUSB).
NNU is 2-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament, winning one game apiece in the last two seasons. In 2018, the Nighthawks made their inaugural appearance and went 0-2, falling to Chico State and UC San Diego. In 2021, NNU won their opening game at the regional over Central Washington before getting eliminated with losses to eventual national runner-up Biola and regional top seed Concordia (CA). Last season, the Nighthawks upset top-seeded Cal State San Marcos in the opening game before falling to Sonoma State and San Marcos.
Scouting Pod Opponents
No. 1 Concordia (45-10, 27-5 PacWest) - For the fourth straight full season, Concordia won the PacWest Conference title and also clinched the automatic berth by winning its first PacWest Conference Tournament. Including the Pandemic-shortened 2021 season, CUI softball has finished in first place in each of the last five seasons. The pitching staff has led all of NCAA DII in Team Era for nearly two months and enters the regional with a microscopic 0.94 ERA as a group. Led by PacWest Newcomer of the Year Daniela Alvarez (11-3, 0.79 ERA and team-high six saves) and PacWest Pitcher of the Year Katlin Entrup (16-3, 0.89 ERA, team-best 113 strikeouts), the Golden Eagles aim to keep their opponents off the bases and in the dugout. Second Team All-PacWest shortstop Rylie Rohr led the entire conference in home runs for the second straight season and enters the regional with 16 this year. 2022 PacWest Player of the Year and leadoff batter Megan Massa has led the league in hits over the course of the last three seasons while catcher Shelby Pfeiler is second on the squad with seven home runs and was recently named Most Outstanding Player of the PacWest Tournament. CUI is 14-1 in its last 15 games and is 7-1 against the other three teams this year: (5-0 vs. Biola, 1-0 vs. CSUSB, 1-1 vs. NNU).
No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino (31-20, 23-12 CCAA) - Cal State San Bernardino finished second in the tough CCAA standings with a 23-12 record, but bowed out early in the conference tournament with losses to 3-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills and 1-seed Sonoma State. Tereise Tosi and Hayden Greene were CCAA First Team recipients. Tosi ranks in the top-10 in eight different CCAA categories, including the home runs leaderboard with 10 on the season. Hayden Greene also ranks in the top-10 on two CCAA leaderboards - she has scored 28 runs this season and ranks fifth on the team with 14 RBIs. Her on-base percentage sits at a .394 going into the postseason. Samantha Vargas made the All-CCAA Second Team and leads the conference with 19 wins, two ahead of her nearest competitor. Joining her on the second team is Alyssa Martinez who has a .400 slugging percentage, .377 on-base percentage in her 135 at-bats this season. Kaylee Williamson is the final Yote to make the second team after getting 23 RBIs with a .410 slugging percentage. CSUSB went 1-3 against the other three pod teams (0-1 vs. NNU, 0-1 vs. CUI, 1-1 vs Biola).
No. 8 Biola (28-22, 19-11 PacWest)- The Biola softball team enters the regional 28-22 overall and is led by head coach Kristin Halte in her second season. The Eagles lead the PacWest Conference offensively with a team batting average of .311. Colby McClinton was the PacWest's Player and Freshman of the Year and leads the conference in four major hitting categories including batting average (.459), on base percentage (.543), on base plus slugging (1.142) and hits (72). McClinton, a true freshman, is also a national statistical leader with the 25th-highest batting average in Division II. Allie Beck also leads the PacWest with the second-highest batting average in the league (.415). Raylene Roybal leads the Eagles pitching staff with a 2.06 ERA and a 15-8 win/loss record. Roybal has thrown 15 complete games and has three saves which is the third-most in the PacWest. Biola went 2-6 against the other three schools (0-5 vs. CUI, 1-0 vs. NNU, 1-1 vs CSUSB).
2023 NCAA West Regional Pod 1
May 11-13 at Eagles Field, Concordia University Irvine - Irvine, Calif.
*All times local to games (Pacific)
Thurs., May 11
Game 1: No. 4 Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino, Noon
Game 2: No. 1 Concordia vs. No. 8 Biola, 2:30 p.m.
Fri., May 12
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11:00 a.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:30 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4:00 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Sat., May 13
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 2:30 p.m.
