NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene baseball dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Western Oregon, falling 6-5 in 13 innings in game one and 4-1 in game two.
The 10
th-ranked Nighthawks move to 12-4-1 on the season and 2-2 in conference action.
Game One
Western Oregon tallied first with a run in the top of the first inning, but NNU responded with a two-run single from
Trevor Tishenkel in the third to take a 2-1 lead.
WOU scored three in the fourth to take the lead back.
Duke Pahukoa cut into the deficit with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, but the Wolves added one in the top of the sixth to go back up by two, 5-3.
The Nighthawks countered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a
Kailer Saunders RBI fielder's choice and Saunders later coming in to score when
Gavin Brubaker stole second base.
Those would be the last runs scored for six full innings as the two teams went deep into extras. It was finally WOU that broke through, scoring a run on three hits in the top of the 13
th. NNU got a runner on with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but could not score as the Wolves took the 6-5 win.
Carter Walsh, Pahukoa, Tishenkel, and
Adam Paganelli each had two hits for the Nighthawks.
Cole Calnon started for NNU and allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings.
Josh Bishopp was the first out of the bullpen, giving up one run in 2 1/3 innings of work.
Josh Brown was very effective as the next reliever with 3 2/3 scoreless frames before
Wade Duncan tossed the final 3 1/3.
Game Two
NNU tallied first in game two on a bases-loaded walk to
Drew Deal.
The Wolves would score one in the third, one in the fifth, and two in the seventh while holding the Nighthawks scoreless the rest of the way for the 4-1 win.
Kailer Saunders went 5 1/3 innings in the start, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts.
Adam Brooks and
Gavin Brubaker also pitched in relief.
Next Up
NNU has a bye week next weekend before hitting the road for a four-game series on March 15 and 16 at Montana State Billings.
