TURLOCK, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene softball finally got things underway late Friday afternoon at the Tournament of Champions, defeating Menlo 4-0 in eight innings before falling to Cal Poly Humboldt 5-1.
The Nighthawks move to 6-5 on the season.
Game One – NNU 4, Menlo 0
NNU's first game was a classic pitchers' duel, with Northwest Nazarene starter
Charlotte Forniss and Menlo starter Destanee Perez matching zeroes on the scoreboard. NNU had a walk in the first inning, but didn't record their first hit until the sixth. Menlo got their first hit in the fourth. Neither the first inning walk or Menlo's hit advanced past first base.
In the sixth, it was the Nighthawks'
Molly Buckingham that broke up the no-hitter, notching a pinch-hit single with one out and advancing to second on an error. She was stranded there, however.
Menlo managed a pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the seventh, but
Victoria Frias was called upon to end the threat in relief of Forniss and she retired the next two Oaks hitters.
To start extra innings in the top of the eighth,
Jami Obringer was placed on second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Kellcie Adams then drove in the first run of the game with a single to right. NNU wasn't done, as
Ava Clark registered a two-RBI single and eventually came in to score on an error to put the Nighthawks up 4-0.
Frias then retired the Oaks in order in the bottom of the eighth with two strikeouts and a groundout.
Forniss tossed 6.1 shutout innings with three hits allowed and two strikeouts. Frias picked up the win after 1.2 innings of relief.
Game Two – Cal Poly Humboldt 5, NNU 1
NNU's second game started much of the same way as the first, with neither team scoring through three innings. The Nighthawks managed to break through in the top of the fourth, as
Kellcie Adams brought home
Jami Obringer with an RBI double.
Miah Lusk started in the circle for NNU and did not allow a hit over 3.2 innings, but after two hit-by-pitches and an error in the fourth, Cal Poly Humboldt's first hit of the game was a two-run single with two outs. The next CPH hitter also registered a hit, knocking a three-run homer to put the Lumberjacks up 5-1. All five runs were unearned.
NNU didn't register another hit until the seventh, where Clark singled and
Clarissa Moreno walked to put two on with two out, but that was where the threat ended.
Lusk went five innings in the start, striking out seven while allowing just four hits and no earned runs. Clark and Adams both had multi-hit games for the Nighthawks with two each.
Next Up
The Nighthawks will play two more in Turlock tomorrow, set to take on San Francisco State at 10:30 a.m. Pacific and Chico State after that at 3:30.
