GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Northwest Nazarene baseball powered their way to a big early lead in the series opener at No. 12 Colorado Mesa, but the Nighthawks had to hold on tight for a 14-12 victory over the Mavericks on Thursday afternoon.
The newly 19
th-ranked Nighthawks improve to 8-1-1 on the season after the win in the top-25 matchup.
After a scoreless first inning, the fireworks started in the top of the second. NNU loaded the bases with one out and scored their first two runs on a hit-by-pitch of
Cole Calnon and a walk drawn by
Carter Walsh.
Casey Wayne followed with a two-RBI single through the left side before
Kaleb Karpstein launched a three-run homer to dead center field to put the Nighthawks up 7-0.
Manny Casillas matched Karpstein in the top of the third, smashing a nearly identical three-run homer to straightaway center field to make it 10-0. Calnon also came in to score on an error later in the inning to put NNU up 11-0.
The Nighthawks showed no signs of slowing down in the top of the fourth as
Duke Pahukoa,
Kailer Saunders, and Casillas each blasted solo home runs to bring the lead to two touchdowns at 14-0.
Colorado Mesa's bats would come alive in the bottom of the fourth, though, as they tallied seven runs of their own to cut the NNU lead in half. The Mavericks then added three more in the sixth to bring the deficit down to 14-10. A CMU two-run homer in the eighth would then bring the lead all the way down to two at 14-12.
CMU brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with a pair of singles, but
Wade Duncan was able to get out of the jam with a flyout caught by Wayne in left field to close the game and register the save.
Casillas had an impressive day at the plate, going 3-4 with three runs scored, two homers, four RBIs, and a walk to reach base in four of his five plate appearances. He brings his batting average up to a team-leading .474 in eight games played this season.
Saunders was 3-5 at the plate with three runs scored, just a triple shy of the cycle with a double in the second, a single in the third, and a homer in the fourth. Calnon recorded a pair of hits, including a double, and scored twice.
Seven of the nine Nighthawks starters in the lineup recorded at least a hit and an RBI in the game.
Josh Brown started on the mound for NNU and cruised through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
Adam Brooks was the first reliever out of the pen and would eventually earn the win, giving up a run over two innings of work.
Josh Bishopp and
Gavin Brubaker also took the mound for NNU before Duncan entered in the ninth.
Next Up
NNU and CMU have three more games in their series, with a doubleheader coming up on Friday starting at noon and a single game on Saturday also at noon.
