ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene baseball took both games of Friday's doubleheader at Central Washington by scores of 9-8 and 4-1.
The 11
th-ranked Nighthawks improve to 21-5-1 on the season and 11-3 in GNAC play.
Game One
NNU broke into the scoring column first in the opener, scoring four in the top of the second.
Cole Calnon got things started with an RBI single before
Carter Walsh knocked a three-run homer over the wall in left.
Central responded in the top of the third with six runs, though, going up 6-4. The Wildcats added one more in the sixth to push their lead to seven.
The Nighthawks' offense came back alive in the top of the seventh, putting up another four-spot.
Trevor Tishenkel registered an RBI groundout, followed by an RBI single from
Kailer Saunders and a two-RBI single by
Gavin Brubaker to put NNU back on top 8-7.
CWU tied it in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer, but NNU bounced right back in the eighth with an RBI sac bunt from Tishenkel to take a 9-8 lead.
That was where the game would finish, as
Wade Duncan tossed a scoreless bottom of the ninth for the save.
Kyle Ethridge started for the Nighthawks and allowed seven runs, five earned, while strikeout out three over six innings.
Josh Bishopp threw the seventh and
Josh Brown tossed a scoreless eighth, with Bishopp earning his first win on the mound this season.
Gavin Brubaker went 3-5 at the plate with two RBIs, while
Carter Walsh and
Adam Paganelli both had two hits, with Walsh notching three RBIs on his first home run of the season.
Game Two
Walsh kept his bat hot in the second game, drilling another home run in the top of the fourth to put the Nighthawks up 1-0. NNU added two more in the sixth when Brubaker scored on a wild pitch and Tishenkel drove in two with a double.
Central scored an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth, but that was all they would manage as the Nighthawks took the 4-1 win.
Bryan Rojas started and earned the win for NNU, going four scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and four strikeouts.
Adam Brooks,
Josh Brown,
Josh Bishopp, and
Blake Hammond combined to hold the Wildcats down in relief, with Hammond earning the save after getting the final four outs.
Walsh had two more hits, increasing his team-leading batting average to .323 on the year.
Next Up
NNU and CWU will play two more tomorrow to finish their series, with the first pitch of game one starting at noon Pacific.
